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JAPAN
Oct 27, 2000

Election rules rewritten

Lawmakers from the ruling bloc on Thursday passed a contentious bill altering the way some Upper House members will be elected.
COMMENTARY
Oct 23, 2000

LDP is up to its old tricks

The current 150th Diet session is in unprecedented chaos over an electoral reform bill to revise the Upper House voting system. The bill would change the roster system for candidates nominated in the proportional-representation segment of the Upper House polls. Currently, parties predetermine the ranks...
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2000

Mori targets damage control, economic stimulus in session

During the extra Diet session convening today, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori hopes to fix the damage done to his ruling bloc by recent money scandals and boost the fragile economic recovery with a stimulus package worth more than 10 trillion yen, including 4 trillion yen in new spending.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2000

Party chiefs launch campaigns

Official campaigning kicked off Tuesday for the June 25 general election, which will determine the fate of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and his three-party coalition government.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2000

No-confidence motion won't get vote

The Lower House Steering Committee said Thursday it will hold a plenary session of the chamber at 1 p.m. today to vote on a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori submitted by the opposition Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 25, 2023

Parties have 708 candidates lined up for next Lower House poll

Many people speculate that Kishida may dissolve the Lower House for a snap election in the fall.
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 29, 2023

The Japanese Diet expels some GaaSyy

From running his mouth on YouTube to running for office — and now, possibly, running from the law — GaaSyy’s journey has been a wild one.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2009

Voters, fed up with LDP, say it's time for change

As the Democratic Party of Japan's stunning victory and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's resounding defeat was reported Sunday night, many voters on the streets of Tokyo said they savored their chance to vote for change.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 20, 2023

LDP power struggle in Yamaguchi shows waning influence of Abe faction

With Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi having been selected for the new No. 3 district, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's caucus has come out on top over the Abe faction.
EDITORIALS
Dec 5, 2013

Voter inequality under the law

The disparity in vote value between more and less populous Upper House constituencies has grown so wide that it is undermining the principle of equality under the law with regard to the representation of voters's will.
EDITORIALS
Aug 21, 2005

New party braces for battle

With a snap general election set for Sept. 11, the conflict within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party over postal-service privatization has entered a new stage with the formation of a new party led by antireform old guards. The new group is led by Mr. Tamisuke Watanuki, former Lower House speaker, and...
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Oct 29, 2017

Nippon Ishin ponders its fate after brutal defeat in Lower House election

Five years after Nippon Ishin no Kai first appeared on the national stage with promises of changing the country through an Osaka-based revolution, the party's future is in doubt following a crushing defeat in the Oct. 22 Lower House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 11, 2022

Women win record 35 of 125 seats in Japan's Upper House election

A record high 181 women ran in the Upper House poll, where half of the chamber's seats were up for grabs.
Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki speaks during an interview in his Tokyo office on September 7
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 12, 2023

Japan's opposition struggles to move beyond political fragmentation

The leadership race for the DPP has reignited debate over the state of the opposition, with calls for a united front clashing with divisions over policy.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (left) attends a disciplinary panel in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 4, 2024

LDP announces formal punishment for scandal-tainted lawmakers

An LDP disciplinary panel handed down the reprimands following weeks of debate among the leadership and several rounds of internal investigations.
Komeito head Natsuo Yamaguchi said in a video posted on TikTok in December that the party did not want to be seen as part of the same group as the LDP.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2024

Challenges mount for Komeito amid rift with LDP

As the junior partner in the ruling coalition approaches its 60th anniversary, an existential crisis looms over it.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his inaugural policy address to parliament in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 5, 2024

LDP to endorse 'slush fund' lawmakers in general election

Opposition parties are turning up the heat on Ishiba, who had earlier signaled his intention to take action against those implicated in the scandal.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2024

LDP pulls endorsements of 12 'slush fund' lawmakers for Oct. 27 election

Former LDP policy chief Koichi Hagiuda, ex-party Diet affairs chief Tsuyoshi Takagi and former education minister Hakubun Shimomura are among those not endorsed.
Tomoko Tamura, leader of the Japanese Communist Party, says it is "crucial" for the JCP to increase its parliamentary share in the upcoming Lower House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 13, 2024

JCP unlikely to withdraw candidates for opposition cooperation

The foundations for electoral cooperation among opposition parties "have collapsed," Tamura said in a recent interview.
Voters listen to a stump speech in Tokyo's Toshima Ward on Tuesday as campaigning for the Oct. 27 Lower House election kicked off.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 16, 2024

Japan's opposition parties to clash in 80% of constituencies

The situation may help the ruling bloc as votes from those critical of the LDP-led government could be dispersed among opposition candidates.
Posters for candidates in the Tokyo No. 1 district on Wednesday in Tokyo
JAPAN / Media
Oct 23, 2024

In the heart of Tokyo, LDP and CDP rivals duke it out as election day nears

While the ruling and main opposition candidates are the clear front-runners, a third-party challenger is also hoping to wrestle his way in.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Chisato Morishita bows to reporters on Sunday in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, after she was projected to win a seat in the Lower House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

Record number of women elected to Japan's Lower House

A total of 73 female candidates won seats in Sunday’s general election, making up about 16% of the membership of the chamber of parliament.
Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki’s personal YouTube channel has more than 326,000 subscribers, by far the highest number among party leaders.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 1, 2024

How Japan’s new kingmaker party won over young voters

The Democratic Party for the People's election gains can be traced to two different factors: its youth-oriented policies and skillful use of social media platforms.
Outgoing Komeito leader Keiichi Ishii speaks at the party's executive meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2024

Komeito pins hopes on new leader after dismal electoral performance

Transport minister Tetsuo Saito, 72, is set to formally succeed party leader Keiichi Ishii.
In last month’s Lower House election, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who also serves as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, excluded members implicated in a slush funds scandal who refused to attend a Lower House ethics hearing earlier this year from the party’s proportional representation candidates list.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

More scandal-hit LDP lawmakers to attend Upper House ethics hearing

The lawmakers could be at a disadvantage in next summer's Upper House election if they do not attend the hearing.
A man casts his ballot during the general election at a polling station in Tokyo on Oct. 27.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 13, 2025

Ishiba keeping eye on Lower House multiseat constituency talks

The prime minister is believed to be eyeing cooperation with opposition parties by using electoral system reform as an opportunity.
Renho speaks in Tokyo during a news conference for candidates for the Tokyo gubernatorial election, in June last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 25, 2025

Opposition CDP to field Renho in Upper House poll

During her fourth term, Renho left the CDP and ran as an independent in last year's Tokyo gubernatorial election.
Reiwa Shinsengumi leader Taro Yamamoto speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 27. The party tripled their Lower House seats to nine in last month's general election.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 25, 2024

How Reiwa Shinsengumi managed to overtake JCP in the Lower House

The younger party's focus on pocketbook issues attracted younger, independent left-leaning swing voters who might have voted for the older party in the past.

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