Abe had succeeded as Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro, whose five and half years as PM had produced real reforms and moved Japan forward.

FORBES: Does Japan's LDP Have a Winner in Former PM Abe? I am Betting on Noda.

But any replacement the leading candidates are Foreign Minister Kono Yohei, Mori faction leader Koizumi Junichiro and former foreign minister Komura Masahiko is likely to be a virtual Mori clone.

CNN: Down In Flames

He places the long-serving post-war prime minister Yoshida Shigeru, who signed the U.S.-Japan peace treaty and the first post-occupation status of forces agreement, in the former camp, along with Nakasone Yasuhiro, Koizumi Junichiro, and Noda Yoshihiko.

FORBES: Japanese Diplomat Decries Japan's Post-WWII Subservience to the U.S.; Advocates an Independent Japanese Foreign and Security Policy