The world is watching Japan in anticipation to see who will be the next to lead the country.
The choice is neither up to the Japanese people, nor is it something that will be decided within the confines of the Diet, Japan’s parliament. Instead, the decision rests solely within the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Much of the media will focus on the personalities and policies of the candidates seeking to take on Japan’s top job, but those are not the most important determinants. Instead, what’s more important is to look at the mechanics of how a successor will be chosen, since that has a lot more to do with who will succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe than the agenda that the individual will champion once in the post.