Kishida’s legacy: Scandals and compromise at home, global respect for security and diplomacy

Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will resign Tuesday, handing over leadership to his successor Shigeru Ishiba, who says he plans to call a snap election for Oct. 27. Kishida’s popularity ratings were precarious during most of his three-year term due to damaging corruption scandals that eventually led him to bow out. At home, Kishida was seen as a leader without a vision who compromised with powerful conservative nationalists within the ruling Liberal Democratic party to stay in power. But he has won respect outside Japan, especially from the United States, for pushing bold changes in Japanese defense and security policies and for standing tougher against Russia and China. Here is a lookback at Kishida’s leadership: