Prime Minister Fumio Kishida marked 1,000 days in office on Saturday, becoming the country's eighth prime minister to reach the milestone since the end of World War II.
To extend his tenure further, Kishida needs to win the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's upcoming leadership election, but there are no clear prospects for his re-election as LDP president as his Cabinet's approval ratings remain sluggish, fueling a sense of crisis within the party over the next general election.
"I have been working on challenges day after day with a sense of urgency," Kishida told reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday. "This accumulation has led to today."