Two more Diet members bolted Friday from the Democratic Party of Japan and announced they were joining Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura's local Genzei Nippon (Tax Reduction Japan) group with the aim of taking it national and vying for seats in the next Lower House election.
Koki Kobayashi, a proportional representative from Tokyo, and Toshiaki Koizumi, a Lower House member from the Ibaraki No. 3 district, said they will join up with Kawamura because he shares their philosophy of lowering taxes.
Both Kobayashi and Koizumi, who opposed increasing the consumption tax, had reportedly been in discussions with Kawamura since last week after voting for a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.