Komeito approved the seventh term of its leader, Natsuo Yamaguchi, at a party convention on Sunday in Tokyo. Yamaguchi, 68, will serve in the top party post for another two years until September 2022.
At the convention, the Liberal Democratic Party's coalition partner also approved Keiichi Ishii, 62, the party's acting secretary general, to succeed Tetsuo Saito, 68, as secretary general of the party.
Also approved were the appointments of House of Representatives member Yuzuru Takeuchi, 62, as chair of the party's policy research council and Makoto Nishida, 58, chair of Komeito's House of Councillors caucus, as chair of the party's electoral policy committee. Yosuke Takagi, 60, will retain his post as chair of the party's Diet policy committee.
Saito will serve as deputy head of the party as well as the campaign headquarters chairperson.
With these appointments, it is believed that Komeito may be giving the impression of a generational transition of power. The move may also be a display of the party's intention of making Ishii the next face of the party, possibly Yamaguchi's successor.
At a press conference after the party's convention, Yamaguchi said: "The party's vitality will be further created through a generational change with revamped party functions and activities. These will allow us to make preparations to win in the next lower house election."
Yamaguchi has been at the party's helm since 2009. Many of the party's top executives, including Saito, ran counter to the party's internal regulations regarding age of party Diet members.
In the 2019 upper house election, Komeito lost 1.03 million proportional representation ballots compared to the 2016 upper house poll and some within the party were speaking of fatigue within the Yamaguchi regime.
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