The 67-year-old Ishiba announced the new election in conjunction with his inauguration on October 1. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) - which has governed the country almost uninterruptedly since 1955 - gets its worst election result in a long time and is likely to lose its parliamentary majority.
In a first comment on this, Ishiba says he will not allow a "political vacuum" after the election. He appears to be aiming to continue governing with a minority coalition.
I want to fulfill my duty by defending people's lives and defending Japan, says the Prime Minister.
As he sees it, the Japanese have punished the LDP for a major corruption scandal where politicians embezzled money at various charity events. This was linked to the former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who announced his resignation in August when opinion polls had reached unusually low levels.
After the failed attempt at a new election, the new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vows to implement "far-reaching reforms in terms of money and politics".
According to forecasts, the LDP will get around 191 of the total 456 seats in the parliament's lower house. In the 2021 election, the party got 259 seats.
