The race for Japan’s next leader might lack the dire rhetoric seen in the U.S. election — warnings that choosing the wrong candidate will result in the country ending democracy or ushering in communism.

But it’s a mistake to dismiss the contest for leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, who will by default become Japan’s next prime minister, as unimportant. At stake is the future of a party that has defined postwar stability in one of the world’s most important economies. That Japanese politics fails to incite the drama seen on the other side of the Pacific is a feature, not a bug. But it’s not one that will endure forever.

To remain relevant, the LDP needs to reinvent itself for a new generation. After three years of near-constant scandals under outgoing leader Fumio Kishida, lawmakers are getting desperate. Kishida wasn’t responsible for revelations around the Unification Church and political funding, but neither was he powerful nor savvy enough to recast these narratives. The misconduct has chipped away not just at his own popularity but at the party’s support.