IN JAPANESE POLITICSthe fifth time’s the charm. At least that is the case for Ishiba Shigeru, a maverick from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).He defeated eight colleagues to win his fifth bid for party leadership on September 27th. This means he will become Japan’s prime minister when he is sworn in next week. Mr Ishiba had come second to Takaichi Sanae, a hard-right nationalist in a first round of voting. But he eked out victory in a second round run-off, as legislators opposed who Ms Takaichi consolidated behind him. After the result was declared, he promised to be a leader who would “speak the truth with courage and sincerity”.