A year after it announced a three-stage policy to "hop, skip and jump" its way to becoming Japan’s largest opposition party, Nippon Ishin no Kai has met its goals in the first two stages, successfully hopping through last year’s Upper House election and skipping through last month’s nationwide local elections.
But the Osaka-based Nippon Ishin faces a long final jump in order to achieve its goal of winning enough seats in the next general election to become Japan’s main opposition force.
Though it expanded its presence in Tokyo and won more seats in the Kansai region in this month’s local elections — including key posts — the party’s presence in some areas of the country, especially the more rural areas, remains thin or nonexistent.