Ishiba said he was stepping down to take responsibility for a dismal showing by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in July elections for the upper house of parliament. He was following in the footsteps of numerous previous leaders, including Prime Ministers Taro Aso, who stepped down after a parliamentary defeat in 2009, and Shinzo Abe, who resigned from his first term after similarly dismal election results. Such setbacks are not permanent in Japanese politics. Abe would return in 2012 to serve for nearly eight years, making him the longest-serving prime minister in the country’s history.

The resignation this month of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has thrown the government into a new round of turmoil—at a point when a chaotic global order needs a stable response from Tokyo.

The resignation this month of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has thrown the government into a new round of turmoil—at a point when a chaotic global order needs a stable response from Tokyo.

Ishiba said he was stepping down to take responsibility for a dismal showing by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in July elections for the upper house of parliament. He was following in the footsteps of numerous previous leaders, including Prime Ministers Taro Aso, who stepped down after a parliamentary defeat in 2009, and Shinzo Abe, who resigned from his first term after similarly dismal election results. Such setbacks are not permanent in Japanese politics. Abe would return in 2012 to serve for nearly eight years, making him the longest-serving prime minister in the country’s history.

Japanese leadership can seem like a revolving door, with most prime ministers out of office before other