TOKYO: Japanese Foreign Minister KAMIKAWA Yoko is underpinning Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio’s administration, which has been struggling amid a ruling party fund scandal, on the diplomatic front.

With an eye on the next general election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, some in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are hoping that Kamikawa will become a candidate to be the successor to Kishida, also president of the LDP, although it remains to be seen if moves to push her will spread.

Kamikawa visited Madagascar, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, France, Sri Lanka, and Nepal from April 26 to Monday, during Japan’s Golden Week holiday period.

Summing up the tour at an online press conference in Nepal on Monday, she said: “It’s very important (for Japan) to deepen engagement with Global South (developing and emerging countries). I was able to send out a powerful message.”

During the trips to the three African and two Asian nations, Kamikawa held meetings with their foreign ministers in a bid to enhance Japan’s ties with Global South at a time when China is attempting to strengthen its influence on Global South.

The talks took place ahead of the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD 9, to be held in the city of Yokohama, south of Tokyo, in August 2025.

Kamikawa became the first Japanese foreign minister ever to visit Madagascar. It was the first time for a Japanese foreign minister to travel to Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria since the 1979 visits by then Foreign Minister Sunao Sonoda.

The three countries are strategically important, with Madagascar being a major maritime transport hub, Cote d’Ivoire serving as a logistics center in western Africa and Nigeria having a population of over 200 million, the largest for an African nation.

Kamikawa informed the three African nations of Japan’s intention to reinforce economic relations with them, including by supporting human resources development.

In the Asian leg of the tour, Kamikawa vowed to help Sri Lanka, which is struggling to repay huge loans from China, overcome its economic crisis.

In Nepal, which borders China, Kamikawa laid out a plan to beef up bilateral relations.

Since taking office in September 2023, Kamikawa has visited a total of 30 countries while working with Kishida to promote economic diplomacy.

Kamikawa ranked third in recent media opinion polls asking participants who should be Japan’s next prime minister, after former LDP Secretary-General ISHIBA Shigeru and former Environment Minister KOIZUMI Shinjiro.

A growing number of LDP lawmakers are concerned that the party would face an uphill battle in the next Lower House election under Kishida, whose cabinet is seeing very low public support rates amid a high-profile slush fund scandal involving LDP factions.

An LDP source said that the party would be able to get through the next general election if it uses Kamikawa, who can bring a sense of renewal as Japan’s possible first female prime minister, as its fresh face of the election.

But the LDP faction previously led by Kishida, to which Kamikawa belonged, has decided its dissolution, and no concrete moves to push Kamikawa as a candidate for the next prime minister have been seen.

Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi and former internal affairs minister NODA Seiko may become possible major rivals of Kamikawa if she aims to be Japan’s first female prime minister.

In the central Japan prefecture of Shizuoka, where Kamikawa’s Lower House constituency is, a gubernatorial election will take place on May 26, with the official campaign period set to start Thursday.

As the election is expected to be a de facto battle between the ruling and opposition camps, the result of the poll may influence the reputation of Kamikawa within the LDP, pundits said.

JIJI Press