Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) presidential election

Shigeru Ishiba became Japanese prime minister on Tuesday, seeking to restore the ruling party's popularity and tackle a demographic crisis, a lacklustre economy and fears over China's military build-up.

Japan's new prime minister will be formally elected by parliament on Oct. 1 following next week's leadership contest, a ruling party official said on Wednesday.

Polls indicate that three frontrunners are emerging among the nine candidates to succeed Fumio Kishida as head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the Sept. 27 internal vote.

Japan's leadership race kicked off on Thursday with a record nine candidates, including the surfing son of a former prime minister and an arch-nationalist, vying to be the first woman premier.

Japan's outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will head to Seoul on Sept. 6 for a two-day visit to meet South Korea's leader after the pair worked to significantly boost bilateral ties.