Photo/Illutration Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi speaks to reporters in Tokyo in August. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Komeito, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, plans to replace Natsuo Yamaguchi as party leader at its convention on Sept. 28 when his eighth term expires, party sources said.

Yamaguchi, who is 72 and has headed the party for the past 15 years, is likely to be succeeded by Keiichi Ishii, 66, the party secretary-general, the sources said.

“My tenure will come to an end (at the party convention),” Yamaguchi said in a speech in Tokyo on Sept. 6. “In light of this principle, I will express my intentions at a regularly scheduled news conference on Sept. 10.”

Makoto Nishida, 62, chairman of the party’s Upper House caucus, is tipped to become the new secretary-general, the sources said.

Yamaguchi succeeded Akihiro Ota as party leader after the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito lost power in the Lower House election held in 2009.

Komeito lost all its seats in single-seat constituencies, including the one held by Ota.

Founded in 1964, pacifist-leaning Komeito is backed by Soka Gakkai, Japan’s largest lay Buddhist organization.

Yamaguchi ranks as the longest-serving party chief since the party was “re-established” in 1998 through the merger of two parties made up of its former lawmakers.

Despite his record for providing stability, Komeito concluded that the transition of power to the next generation is necessary.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced in August that he will not seek re-election in a party leadership contest on Sept. 27.

“(Kishida) is hoping to refresh the entire political world and promote a generational change,” Yamaguchi said in the Sept. 6 speech. “I am the oldest (among all party leaders).”

Since Komeito’s founding, the candidate the party decides on in advance has won unopposed in every leadership election.

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