began in earnest on Friday with a series of televised debates. Widely seen as the leading contender, vaccine minister Taro Kono recently veered from mainstream thinking in the conservative party by saying he favors the introduction of same-sex marriage, and during a debate broadcast by TV Asahi, he asked his main contender about his stance on the issue.Former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, 64, answered by saying he had “not reached to the point of accepting same-sex marriage.”The two other candidates in the race are both women; Seiko Noda, a 61-year-old former gender equality minister, and Sanae Takaichi, 60, an ultra-conservative former internal affairs minister.While they are not seen as front-runners, the contest is still regarded as.