Mr. Kishida visited the Tomigaya mansion to offer his condolences on August 9. It was also the last day of the Upper House election, and Mr. Kōichi Hagiuda, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, and Mr. Hirofumi Shimomura, former policy chief of the LDP, who is the chairman of the Tokyo Metropolitan Federation of the Abe faction, were away giving speeches in support of Mr. Kishida. A condolence caller continued. “Mr. Nishimura, who was to explain former Prime Minister Abe’s final days, stood aside from the mild-mannered Mr. Shioya and acted as if he were a representative of the Abe faction. While Abe faction leaders were sweating over the election, there was a story that former Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Ryota Takeda, who respects the order of elders, raised his voice at the sight of Nishimura’s self-righteous behavior in place of his faction’s senior members.” The Seiwa-kai, which has nearly 100 Diet members, was able to retain its chairman because of Mr. Abe’s centripetal force. After Mr. Abe’s death, there is no successor who is unanimous among the public. “For the time being, it is likely that the five-member leadership team of Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, House of Councilors Secretary-General Hiroshige Seko, Mr. Hagiuda, Mr. Nishimura, and Mr. Shimomura will continue to lead the party without a successor. Mr. Shiotani is expected to be excluded due to his defeat in the election and his return to proportional representation. He was called ‘Gyu-chan’.” “Hagiuda, who is known as ‘Gyu-chan’ and has the support of younger voters, seems to be one step ahead of the others, but this has led to the formation of a group leadership structure, as veterans and other candidates may oppose it and the situation may become untenable. Since the faction was held together by Chairman Abe’s centripetal force, confusion is inevitable,” said a mid-level Seiwa-kai member. Although not an NHK historical drama, the Kamakura Shogunate introduced a council system with 13 influential feudal lords after the death of the charismatic Minamoto no Yoritomo, which led to a bloody power struggle. The battle between the “Abe-dono no fives” (Abe no fives) began.