By bno – Taipei Office Shigeru Ishiba has surged ahead as the most popular choice among the Japanese public for the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) presidential election, according to a recent Asahi Shimbun survey conducted on September 14 and 15. The poll, which received 1,070 valid responses, reveals that 26% of respondents view Ishiba, a former LDP secretary-general, as the most suitable candidate to succeed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. This new data positions Ishiba well above his competitors, with Shinjiro Koizumi, another prominent LDP figure, trailing at 21%. Sanae Takaichi, a current…