Rikki Kersten

Honorary Professor, Australia-Japan Research Centre – Australian National University

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Kishida – 1, Democracy – 0; What Kishida's victory says about the state of democracy in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida performed well in his first electoral test, securing an absolute majority. But Rikki Kersten writes the election result highlights the lack of competition in Japanese democracy and voter disenchantment with the ways of the old guard in the dominant Liberal Democratic Party.

Delivering Abe's legacy: the raison d'être of the Kishida regime

Japan's ruling party has chosen a new Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, who has immediately sought his own mandate by calling elections for 31 October. But writes Rikki Kersten, the quiet winner from Japan’s latest political upheaval is the man who held the job longer than any other, Shinzo Abe.