“Nepobabies” are born into lives of power and privilege, including a jumpstart on political careers if they decide to take that route in life.

One area of such nepotism has been Yamaguchi Prefecture, where three families of powerful members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have dominated politics for generations.

But things are changing in the western Japan prefecture.

Electoral rezoning will eliminate one Lower House seat in the area. The hereditary line of one of the families will end.

And voters themselves appear to be growing more disenchanted by such political dynasties.

Campaigning will officially start on April 11 for Lower House by-elections in the prefecture’s No. 2 and No. 4 electoral districts. Votes will be cast and counted on April 23.

PROUD FAMILY TREE

In the No. 2 district, Nobuchiyo Kishi is running for the seat that his father, Nobuo Kishi, 64, a former defense minister, has held for years.

Kishi, 31, held a party at a luxury hotel in Tokyo, not far from the Diet building, on March 27.

More than 500 people each paid the 20,000 yen ($152) fee to attend. Diet members as well as LDP faction leaders were in attendance.

Former Prime Minister Taro Aso, now LDP vice president, gave an encouragement speech for Kishi: “You are blessed with all of this. Ganbare! (Go for it!)”

Looking around at all the political heavyweights in attendance, a veteran LDP politician said in amazement, “Any normal rookie in politics could never imitate this.”

Kishi is certainly not a normal rookie.

“I appreciate your support for my uncle and my father,” Kishi told the attendees in his speech, referring to Shinzo Abe and Nobuo Kishi.

He then pledged, “I will inherit their thoughts unwaveringly.”

‘THICKEST’ BRAND

Kishi has never been shy about his nepobaby status.

In fact, his website once proudly displayed his family tree, which included six Diet members and three former prime ministers. Kishi removed it after receiving criticism.

Kishi used to work as a reporter at Fuji Television Network Inc. until he became an aide to his father. The move was seen as preparation for him to eventually take over his father’s Lower House seat.

Nepotistic succession has been a time-honored tradition in Japanese politics, including on the opposition side.

But Kishi’s “brand is the thickest of them all,” a local assembly member in the No. 2 electoral district said.

Kishi has essentially inherited two powerful lines: Abe and Kishi.

Nobuo Kishi, the younger brother of Shinzo Abe, was adopted by a son of former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi and his wife. 

Nobuo announced his retirement in February, citing health problems.

But people who know Yamaguchi politics believe the timing of Nobuo’s retirement decision was a calculated ploy.

Yamaguchi Prefecture currently has four single-seat electoral districts for the Lower House.

But starting from the next Lower House election, the number of single-seat districts will be reduced to three for vote-disparity reasons.

Nobuo’s retirement allowed him to easily hand over his electoral turf to his son before the change, some in the LDP’s prefectural chapter said.

FUTURE PRIME MINISTER?

Nonetheless, the prefectural chapter has completely supported the Kishi-to-Kishi succession.

Prefectural assembly members with political clout have taken up top official positions in Kishi’s campaign.

The chapter in February publicly called for candidates for the seat vacated by Nobuo.

But “only a few” applied, according to the chapter. And to the surprise of no one, the chapter named Kishi as its candidate shortly thereafter.

One LDP city assembly member described his high expectations for Kishi.

“Mr. Nobuchiyo will assume the posts for ministerial aides and Cabinet ministers, and eventually he may become prime minister,” the member said. “If it were any other rookie, he or she would go only as far as a seat-warmer.”

An opponent of Kishi in the by-election is Hideo Hiraoka, 69, a former justice minister who is running as an independent.

At a news conference, Hiraoka said he has received support from many people who are fed up with hereditary politics.

Hiraoka also criticized Kishi’s statement about “having my father’s thoughts on my back.”

“That is not an advancement of politics,” Hiraoka said.

NO ABE, NO PASSION

A different mood has spread in the by-election in the No. 4 district for the seat that had long been occupied by Abe, who was shot and killed in summer 2022.

On March 15, Abe’s widow, Akie, bowed deeply toward 80 or so people who attended the opening of a campaign office for Shinji Yoshida, 38, in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

“It is my sincere hope that you help bring a resounding victory for Mr. Yoshida, who succeeds my husband,” Akie said in her speech.

The attendees included nine city assembly members and two prefectural assembly members.

The Shimonoseki mayor and Diet members sent proxies in their place. That would have never happened if someone whose last name is Abe were running.

Abe’s supporters wanted Akie to take over her husband’s seat, but she firmly declined.

It was Akie who ultimately decided on Yoshida, a city assembly member belonging to a faction close to Abe.

But for many Abe supporters, Yoshida is a “nameless” nobody.

“Our group for sure would have been united behind Akie,” a senior official of Abe’s supporters’ group lamented.

HAYASHI EAGER

In any turf war, trouble in one dynasty is a gift to another.

Shimonoseki, the most populated city in the No. 4 district, has also been a base for Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, 62.

The Hayashi family also has a long political history in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

In the days when the area was a multiseat electoral district, Hayashi’s father, Yoshiro, and Abe’s father, Shintaro, went head-to-head over votes.

Both fathers held key positions in the LDP and the Cabinet.

The rivalry was so fierce that companies and organizations in the area were split into Abe and Hayashi factions.

A senior official of Abe’s support group recalled, “A company that supported Abe would ask a client: ‘Who’s side are you on? If you are with Hayashi, I won’t do business with you.’”

Yoshimasa Hayashi served five terms as an Upper House member until he ran in the 2021 Lower House election from the No. 3 electoral district and won.

In the next Lower House election, Yamaguchi’s four single-seat electoral districts will be re-zoned into three.

The new No. 3 single-seat electoral district will overlap on both Abe’s turf and Hayashi’s turf.
Hayashi’s supporters expect him to run from the new No. 3 district. And they will keep watch on the vicissitudes of the Abe camp.

“Supporters of Yoshida have been bearing a flag of ‘the Abe Family,’ which no longer exists,” said a local assembly member who supports Hayashi.

PROS AND CONS

Out of concerns for being labeled old-fashioned, the LDP has introduced a system to publicly call for candidates.

But it appears unlikely that the hereditary system will change anytime soon. Many of the party’s middle-ranking politicians are nepobabies, including Yuko Obuchi, Hiroshi Kajiyama and Tatsuo Fukuda.

One third-generation politician in the LDP said the benefits of being a nepobaby are obvious.

“Compared to those who have to work their way up to become a Diet member, it is much easier for us to be lawmakers and remain in the Diet,” the middle-ranking LDP member said.

The financial advantages are also undeniable.

When parents’ political organizations “donate” money to their children’s political organizations, the funds are basically tax-exempt.

Some voters also prefer hereditary succession, an Upper House member of the LDP said.

“Once you become a senior member of a politician’s support group, your business will enjoy the benefits, too,” the member said, citing politicians’ deep ties to the local economy. “There are many who will run into trouble if a political family doesn’t survive long.”

Bureaucrats have welcomed the hereditary practice because nepobabies tend to become Diet members at a young age.

“We can build a relationship sooner because we can see the consistency of their predecessors’ policies and political stances,” a senior official of Finance Ministry said.

However, some have observed a change in voters’ priorities.

In single-seat electoral districts, the power of “family” has gradually faded, and the power of “party” has overridden individual candidates in terms of influence, said an LDP member whose father was a Lower House member from a district in Hokkaido.

“I think fewer and fewer voters care about whether a candidate is an heir or not,” the politician said.

A middle-ranking LDP member sounded the alarm over the party’s lack of diversity among its candidates.

“The party’s set of values has remained the same, and it has been unable to keep up with changes in society,” the member said. “Those self-made candidates understand voters more.”

(This article was written by Masahiro Kakihana, Takeshi Aose, Kenta Maeda, Takuro Chiba, Shino Matsuyama and Takero Yamazaki.)