Ishihara was born and raised in Greater Tokyo Area, the son of essay writer Noriko Ishihara and author and former Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara. Ishihara attended Keio Gijuku High School and graduated from the literature faculty of Keio University in 1981. After university, he worked as a political reporter for Nippon Television, covering the Finance and Foreign Ministries and the Prime Minister.
In 1990, he was elected to the House of Representatives as representative for the Fourth District of Tokyo under the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ticket. He was appointed Parliamentary Vice-Minister of International Trade and Industry in 1996. Under Junichiro Koizumi's first Cabinet in 2001, he became Minister of State for Administrative and Regulatory Reform. He served as Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport from 2003 to 2004, and was chairman of the Highways Committee of the LDP Policy Affairs Research Council from 2005 to 2007.[2]
Following Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's resignation, Ishihara stood as a candidate for the LDP presidency. In the leadership election, held on September 22, 2008, Taro Aso won with 351 of the 527 votes; Ishihara placed fourth with 37 votes.[3]
Ishihara was named as a potential LDP candidate for the 2014 gubernatorial election in Tokyo, but along with fellow LDP legislators Yuriko Koike, Tamayo Marukawa and Satsuki Katayama, performed poorly in a December 2013 poll against Yoichi Masuzoe and Hideo Higashikokubaru.[4][5]
Ishihara was head of the Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai faction of the LDP from 2012 to 2021.[6]
In 2021, Ishihara lost his seat in the general election.[7] After the elections, he was appointed an advisor to Kishida Cabinet, but he resigned after a week when it emerged the local LDP chapter.[8]
