Candidates are scrambling to fill a power vacuum left by the sudden resignation of Japan’s prime minister Yoshihide Suga, whose popularity plummeted amidst a renewed wave of COVID infections. But although four candidates have successfully collected the signed endorsements of 20 or more parliamentarians required to enter the race, one political expert has said the outcome is not predictable. Assistant Prof. Corey Wallace, based in Japan’s Kanagawa University, noted in a recent article in the Tokoyo Review that the outcome of the LDP vote is unpredictable as the government grapples with the pandemic and  “machiavellian machinations” within the party. The candidates include the Minister for Administrative & Regulatory Reform and japan’s Vaccination Rollout Taro Kono, and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. In addition, two women are in the running to become Japan’s first female Prime Minister—former Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi and the party’s Acting General Secretary, Seiko Noda. With a general election …