Tokyo, Sep 22
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) officially launched its leadership election campaign on Monday, with five candidates filing their candidacies.
The contenders are Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, former Economic Security Ministers Takayuki Kobayashi and Sanae Takaichi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, and former LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi.
All five also ran in last year's election, which saw a record nine candidates, reports news agency.
The contest will focus on issues such as cooperation with opposition parties, economic measures to tackle rising prices, and rebuilding the party after successive election defeats and political funding scandals.