Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba addresses the media at the vote counting center in the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on July 20, 2025.
Franck Robichon | Afp | Getty Images
Japan’s embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has denied media reports that he was considering resigning, according to Reuters.
Local media outlets earlier in the day said that Ishiba was unsure of his future and would take a call on whether to continue as prime minister in August.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he had reached a “massive Deal” with Japan, potentially strengthening Ishiba’s leadership, just days after Japan’s governing coalition lost its majority in the country’s upper house elections.
Japan’s Mainichi newspaper reported Wednesday that the prime minister intended to announce his resignation by August, according to a Google translation of the report in Japanese.
Japanese media outlet Yomiuri had reported earlier in the day that Ishiba would decide whether to stay on as prime minister after assessing the progress of tariff negotiations.
Japan’s Jiji Press reported that “he would soon decide whether to step down or not,” adding that a senior member of Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party predicted that Ishiba would step down in August.
The Sankei newspaper, likewise, said that he would make the final decision on his future in August, and added that if he decides to step down, Ishiba would be expected to select a new party leader in September and hold an election for the nominee in October.
Some reports, such as the Nikkei newspaper’s, revealed that Ishiba will on Wednesday be in an “unusual” meeting with LDP Chief Advisor Taro Aso, Vice President Yoshihide Suga, and former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Nikkei also said that Ishiba “will discuss his future with the former prime minister.” Ishiba said that he did not discuss his resignation, and “shared [a] strong sense of crisis with the former prime minister,” Reuters reported.
With the upper house loss, this is the first time that the LDP is a minority in both houses. The party lost its majority in the lower house last October.
Ishiba himself has not made any public remarks on his future, only saying after the election that he would stay on as prime minister.