Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears likely to forgo a House of Representatives election this summer over the planned postponement of a consumption tax increase from next year.
In a meeting on Monday with Abe, Finance Minister Taro Aso told the prime minister he will accept Abe's plan to delay the tax hike by two and a half years from April 2017 and to hold a House of Councilors election alone this summer, according to sources.
Aso had opposed the postponement of the consumption tax hike and called for holding the general election and the Upper House election on the same day.