On September 7, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba declared that he was resigning. He stated that the and with the United States and discontent in his party were the reasons for his quitting. His leaving opens the way to a contest for the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
This also means that the future of some of the economic policies of Japan is unclear. These include cryptocurrency regulation and digital industry initiatives that were on the way becoming more of a standard and received support from Ishiba’s leadership.
Ishiba confirmed he would step down earlier than planned, following weeks of pressure for an early leadership race. Observers viewed the move as a de facto vote of no confidence. With his resignation, the party no longer needs to hold a separate vote and will now proceed directly to choosing his successor. Ishiba also clarified that he would not run again. He said his timing coincided with the conclusion of U.S. trade talks, highlighted by President Donald Trump’s executive order reducing automobile tariffs.
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The decision reflects deepening political turmoil. After the LDP suffered a heavy defeat in the July upper house elections, opposition parties and Ishiba’s rivals pressed for change. On September 2, four top party officials including Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama resigned on Sunday, leaving his opposing Ishiba more and more isolated.
Japan Faces Uncertainty in Crypto and Web3 Policy
Ishiba’s resignation is a turning point for the Japanese crypto and Web3 ecosystem. In the last week of August, he attended a Tokyo Web3 conference during which he spoke about the state’s economic future and about blockchain and AI being most important in this context. He had expressed a strong desire to see digitization of the country and had pushed for both investment and regulations in the digital sector.
New leadership is expected soon, but it is still uncertain in which direction policies would go. Former Minister of Economic Security Sanae Takaichi and Minister of Agriculture Shinjiro Koizumi have both come out as the most likely candidates to take over.
A survey conducted by Nikkei last month revealed Takaichi at the top with 23% of the public backing, closely trailed by Koizumi who received 22%. Ishiba was third with 8% support. Both Takaichi and Koizumi have at least recognized the importance of digital assets; however, neither of them has so far come up with a concrete plan for this sector in the future.
Japan also took part in WebX 2025 last month held in Tokyo, which is the leading Web3 conference that pulled over 14,000 attendees and had more than 170 side events. The event saw policymakers, industry leaders, and developers together discussing issues like tokenization, stablecoins, AI adoption, and Web3 gaming which are more or less indicative of Japan’s growing stature as a digital innovation center.
