Generational change or gender breakthrough, whoever Japan’s next PM is will have a mountain to climb

Two candidates have emerged as favourites to lead Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, ahead of the party vote next week

The next leader of Japan's ruling party will either be the country's first female prime minister or its youngest leader since the war. But the significance of those milestones will be quickly lost in the party's attempts to rebuild after two bruising elections that have cast doubt over the future of one of the world's most successful political machines.

Two of the five candidates vying to replace Shigeru ishiba - who announced his resignation earlier this month - as the next president of the Liberal Democratic party (LDP) have emerged as clear favourites in what analysts are describing as a last-ditch attempt to unify a party battered by a major funding scandal and the cost-of-living crisis.