As politicians around the globe rush to tamp down inflation, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is betting instead that older voters in particular will look past surging prices in a crucial election on Sunday.
Kishida has endorsed the Bank of Japan’s unorthodox stance of keeping borrowing costs at rock-bottom levels even as inflation heats up, and the yen has slid to a 24-year low. During the campaign for the Upper House election, Kishida has made the case that higher interest rates would hurt mom-and-pop shops and homeowners even more.
The stakes in the vote — the last scheduled nationwide election for three years — are bigger than usual. A decisive win would cement Kishida as prime minister for the foreseeable future, an outcome that was in doubt when he took power last October. A weak victory, on the other hand, would raise questions about his strategy and add pressure on the central bank to shift course.