China hawk Sanae Takaichi and the youthful Shinjiro Koizumi went into a runoff vote Saturday to become the head of Japan’s ruling party, charged with reviving its flagging fortunes as a new anti-immigration grouping snaps at its heels.

The eventual winner will almost certainly be approved by parliament as Japan’s fifth prime minister in as many years, a step that local media say could come the week of October 13.

Takaichi, 64, would be Japan’s first woman premier, and the telegenic but potentially out-of-his-depth Koizumi, 44, the son of a former premier, its youngest in the modern era.

The two went into the run off to head the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) after the moderate Yoshimasa Hayashi, dubbed “Mr. 119” after Japan’s emergency phone number, was knocked out along with two other

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