The Democratic Party of Japan is in crisis. After suffering a crushing defeat in the Lower House election in December 2012, it was also badly beaten in the Upper House election on July 21. First and foremost, every DPJ member must have a sense of crisis and a strong will to get back the lost ground, a prerequisite for the party's comeback. The party also needs to develop a policy line clearly different from the Liberal Democratic Party, around which DPJ members can rally. DPJ chief Banri Kaieda must tackle in earnest the task of unifying the party and issuing strong messages to people.
In the Upper House election, the DPJ won only 17 seats, a record low in the party's history. It could not win any seat in single-seat constituencies. Even in important multiple-seat constituencies like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, it could not get any seat. In proportional representation, the DPJ won seven seats, the same number as Komeito. But in the number of votes obtained in proportional representation, the DPJ has fallen to a No. 3 party. It garnered only 13.40 percent of the vote while Komeito got 14.22 percent.
The dismal performance is attributable to the fact that the DPJ government had made the DPJ's position closer to that of the LDP in important policy measures, namely decisions to raise the consumption tax rate and to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade scheme, loosening of the ban on weapons exports and a push for export of nuclear power technology.