Prime Minister Fumio Kishida became Japan’s 10th longest-serving prime minister in the postwar era on Wednesday, in the midst of strong political headwinds including low approval ratings, the fallout from a Liberal Democratic Party-wide political funds scandal and scrutiny of his education minister’s past ties with the Unification Church.
Since he assumed the country's leadership in October 2021, he has served as prime minister for 864 days — on par with former Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki, who stood at the helm of the country for over two years from 1980 to 1982.
Kishida himself didn’t seem to give too much thought to this achievement, however.