With the launch of Osaka Ishin no Kai on Saturday, which aims to take control of the Lower House within five years, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto kicked off his latest attempt to build an Osaka-based national political movement.
But with mounting legal problems between Hashimoto and his Osaka followers with Ishin no To (Japan Innovation Party, or JIP), the party which Osaka Ishin no Kai members split from, as well as uncertainty over the Nov. 22 Osaka mayoral and gubernatorial campaign, it is unclear how many more Diet members will join the new party before December.
Nineteen Diet members, including one proxy, and dozens of assembly members and supporters from 19 prefectures were in attendance, a total less than Hashimoto had originally hoped for. Osaka Ishin no Kai's policy platform is virtually the same as JIP's, with an emphasis on smaller government and decentralization, where Osaka would serve as the second capital.