On Oct. 14, new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida dissolved the House of Representatives to make way for a general election to be held on Oct. 31.
Heading into the national election, the majority of the Japanese public is concerned with the economic policy of the Kishida administration. What is the nature and prospect of Kishida’s economic policy, or “Kishidanomics”?
On Oct. 8, Kishida delivered his general policy speech in the Diet, expressing his determination to tackle the coronavirus pandemic by establishing a “new Japanese capitalism.” Based on a “virtuous circle of growth and distribution” of wealth, this new economic policy is supposed to replace the much-lamented neoliberal approach, which is said to have contributed to growing economic inequity among the Japanese society.