SYNOPSIS: Japan's leadership race has become intricate, with 11 possible candidates for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election. Nippon TV looks at the reasons behind the numerous contestants and how qualified each of them are for the post of LDP president, who is expected to become the prime minister of the country. 

Suzue Nana, News Anchor: Final arrangements are being made for the campaigning for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party presidential election to begin on September 12 and voting to take place on September 27. If this is finalized, it will be the longest-ever LDP presidential election period of 15 days. The LDP's election management committee will decide on the schedule on August 20. 

Meanwhile, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party has decided to start campaigning for its leadership election on September 7 and hold the voting on September 23. September will see Japan's two largest national political parties choose their leaders. 

In addition to lawmaker Kobayashi Takayuki who announced his candidacy on August 19, there are 10 people who have shown interest in running or who others are recommending their candidacy. 

Of them, Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko said she is personally calling fellow party lawmakers to secure 20 nominations required to run in the election and that the prospect looks good. 

We have political reporter Hiramoto-san with us. 

I have three questions. 

First, why are there as many as 11 candidates? 

Second, how would you analyze the 11 candidates' capabilities? 

Third, how will the LDP presidential race play out? 

There are 11 possible candidates.  

Hiramoto Noriaki, Political reporter: It's rare to have this many. I don't think there was a situation where there were 11 candidates. 

Suzue Nana, News Anchor: Why has this many people's names come up? 

Hiramoto Noriaki, Political reporter: I think there are two reasons, and one of them is the elimination of factions. 

A lawmaker who wanted to run in a past LDP presidential election but couldn't told us what had happened. 

To run in an election, a candidate needs 20 nominations from fellow LDP parliamentarians. 

This lawmaker said a colleague who once agreed to be a nominator later said the faction said no.

In the past, factional constraints like this made it difficult for lawmakers to make moves. 

But now that they are free to move, it has become easier to gather nominators and run in the election. 

Against the backdrop of this kind of story, the names of 11 people including Kono-san who expressed his intention to run have come up, including two names each from two factions. 

Hayashi Yoshimasa and Kamikawa Yoko are from the Kishida faction. 

Motegi Toshimitsu and Kato Katsunobu are from the Motegi faction. 

What is characteristic this time is that the practice of factions to basically limit the number of candidates to one each has disappeared. 

Suzue Nana, News Anchor: Does that mean that factions like the Kishida and Motegi factions that have announced their dissolution no longer impose restrictions and there are no moves for them to keep pace with one another toward the party presidential election? 

Hiramoto Noriaki, Political reporter: That is the case with factions that are dissolving, but even the Aso faction, which still exists, is divided on the matter.  On the whole, moves to eliminate factions have characterized the developments as of August 19. But we need to pay close attention to whether factional moves might become strong again in the future. 

Suzue Nana, News Anchor: What is the other reason? 

Hiramoto Noriaki, Political reporter: That is Prime Minister Kishida's sudden announcement that he will not run in the election. Of the 11 names, five are current Cabinet members and one is a party executive. Cabinet members and party executives are in positions to support the prime minister, so if Kishida were to run for LDP president, it would have been difficult for them to consider their candidacy. So with that gone, the environment became more conducive to running in the election. 

Suzue Nana, News Anchor: Second, we tried analyzing the 11 candidates. What kind of strengths and weaknesses do they each have? 

Hiramoto Noriaki, Political reporter: Nippon TV’s reporters analyzed the candidates from different perspectives, with five being the highest score. Kobayashi Takayuki gets a full score for having this new and different impression, but he gets one point in terms of experience. Ishiba Shigeru served as secretary-general and cabinet ministers, so he scores a 5 in terms of experience. However, there are quite a few LDP members who say they just cannot support Ishiba, so he gets a 2 for support among lawmakers. 

Suzue Nana, News Anchor: What about Kono, or even Koizumi Shinjiro? He’s the youngest, so shouldn’t he have a “new and different” impression? 

Hiramoto Noriaki, Political reporter:  One thing we can say about Kono is that he is well-balanced. He has minister experience as foreign minister and digital minister, and he is expected to gain support from lawmakers including the one from those who belong to the Aso faction. However, winning support from factions can be a negative factor in the upcoming LDP election. 

Koizumi also has high scores in terms of having a “new and different” impression. He’s also very well known. However, you can see from the chart that his weakness is his lack of experience, as his only ministerial experience is being the environment minister.  

Suzue Nana, News Anchor:  The third point will be, what can we expect to happen in the upcoming LDP election? 

Hiramoto Noriaki, Political reporter: I believe that not all of these 11 prospective candidates will actually be running in the election. Prospective candidates must secure prerequisite 20 nominations from party lawmakers, and as of August 19, Ishiba, Kono, Kobayashi, Hayashi, and Koizumi are expected to win these nominations. Chances for Saito Ken and Kamikawa gaining these nominations are not yet certain as of August 19. Motegi, Kato Katsunobu, Takaichi Sanae and Noda Seiko are not yet certain as well. A source said that the number of candidates will most likely be narrowed down to five to six in the end. 

We still have 24 days until the candidates are officially accepted. Kobayashi made his announcement on August 19, so that might speed things up, but a lawmaker has pointed out that the LDP election has not even officially started. We will have to wait and see who can ultimately run in the election — or in other words, who will have to give up.