The three candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency on Saturday called for a complete makeover of the party in the wake of last month's devastating general election defeat.
After losing power to the Democratic Party of Japan, the first public debate among the candidates turned largely into an opportunity to review the party's fall from grace.
"We rode on policies that the bureaucrats put forward," Lower House member Yasutoshi Nishimura said at the Japan National Press Club, adding that the conservative party's crushing defeat was rooted deeply in public disenchantment with LDP policies.