Pacifist-leaning Komeito, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, formally crowned Keiichi Ishii as its new leader, marking the first leadership change in 15 years.

The decision, announced at Komeito’s biennial party convention on Sept. 28, came about because Natsuo Yamaguchi’s term of office as party president expired.

Keiichi Ishii, 66, previously served as the party’s secretary-general.

Komeito is not the only party embarking on a new start. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party with which Komeito is aligned also has a new leader, Shigeru Ishiba, 67. He was elected Sept. 27 to replace Fumio Kishida, the outgoing prime minister.

Both parties face daunting challenges.

In his inaugural address, Ishii said: “I am humbled by this heavy responsibility. I will work with the spirit of the party, ‘Together with the masses,’ in my heart even more deeply.”

Ishii appointed Makoto Nishida, 62, to replace him as secretary-general. Nishida previously chaired the party’s election task force committee.

Nobuhiro Miura, a 49-year-old Upper House member, was named as Nishida’s successor.

Mitsunari Okamoto, 59, was appointed the party’s new policy chief. Hidemichi Sato, 64, will head its Diet task force. Okamoto and Sato are Lower House members.

All the key executive posts are new appointments.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Komeito’s founding, and the sense of “renewal” is not lost on the party. 

The party’s honorary president and founder, Daisaku Ikeda, died last November.

Komeito is now at a crossroads. Yamaguchi led the party for 15 years. He was very popular and had been at the helm since 2009, when the party fell into opposition.

In making the appointments, Ishii said his aim was to “rejuvenate the party by one generation and nurture those who will lead the party in the future.”

Immediate issues facing the new party executives are the Lower House election, which is expected this fall, the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election next summer and the Upper House election also in next summer.

The Tokyo metropolitan assembly election is a particularly big deal for Komeito.

The party views these elections as “three political decisive battles.”

Yamaguchi, 72, was extremely popular among the female segment of Soka Gakkai, the lay Buddhist organization that is the party’s power base. He served as the party’s “face of elections” for many years.

Ishii doesn’t have the same name recognition as Yamaguchi, though.

Ishii was previously elected from a proportional-representation constituency but he is expected to run from a prefectural district for the first time in the coming Lower House election.

The additional work that this will entail triggered speculation he may not be able to devote himself to the job of leading the party.

A further concern is the decline in vote-getting power due to the aging of Soka Gakkai members.

Komeito’s proportional representation constituency votes in the Upper House election peaked at 8.62 million in 2004 and dropped to 6.18 million in summer 2022.

The LDP, which is cooperating in the election with Komeito, will inevitably face strong criticism from the opposition camp over a slush fund scandal that led Kishida to bow out, creating a headwind for Komeito.

“Political distrust is rising, and voters are reacting harshly against the ruling party,” Ishii said.

Amid this unsettling state of affairs, the elevation of Ishiba to the LDP presidency is seen as a good omen for Komeito because he was highly favored in opinion polls to become the next prime minister.

Ishii and Ishiba know each other well from their time as members of the New Frontier Party. They also served as their parties’ respective policy chiefs when they were in opposition.

Ishiba attended the Sept. 28 Komeito party convention. In his speech, Ishiba looked back on the period when both the LDP and Komeito were in opposition in 2009, and emphasized the bond between the two parties, saying, “Komeito was with us through the hard times and difficult times.”

Ishiba shares some policy points with Komeito, such as support for separate surnames for married couples. For this and other reasons, expectations for Ishiba are high among Komeito members.

In the words of one Komeito member, Ishiba and the party “have known each other for a long time, and he understands our situation.”

However, the bottleneck is the security policy that Komeito embraces.

Ishiba’s proposals include revising pacifist Article 9 of the Constitution and creating an “Asian version of NATO.” But these are all unacceptable to Komeito, which upholds its position as the “party of peace.”

Among Komeito members, there is a strong sense of uneasiness about the weakness of Ishiba’s party base. It is no secret that many in the LDP are hostile toward Ishiba.

“If (Ishiba) does not unite the LDP properly, it may affect both the coalition and the election,” said a senior Komeito member.