Former education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi vows to switch to Lower House
Former education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Thursday he will run in the next election for the House of Representatives to switch from the House of Councilors.
Why politicians make the switch from Upper to Lower House
One almost never hears about a Lower House member trying to move to the Upper House, but movement the opposite direction has plenty of precedent.
Tensions flare between LDP factions as Lower House candidates vie for endorsement
Size matters to party factions as it directly affects their influence within the party, and bigger factions tend to win better posts in reshuffles.
Japan lawmakers' average incomes fell ¥110,000 in 2020 amid pandemic salary cut
The highest Diet earner, LDP Upper House member Taichiro Motoe, received ¥1.91 billion and topped the list for the second year after boosting his income by ¥845.02 million from 2019.
Population shift in Japan forces redrawing of electoral map, worrying powerful LDP figures
The plan to add representatives in urban areas at the expense of rural districts could hurt LDP heavyweights from Shinzo Abe to Toshihiro Nikai.
A summer of competition for the LDP-Komeito coalition
Japan's big cities are not reflective of national level politics, so even if the LDP and Komeito suffer a poor outcome in a few weeks, it will not portend some sweeping movement.
Lower House seat allocation review aims to narrow vote weight gap
The government's electoral reform panel will soon begin reviewing the allocation of Lower House seats in some of the country's 47 prefectures based on the census released Friday.
Any coalition with Japanese Communist Party would collapse quickly, CDP leader says
At the same time, Yukio Edano stressed that the CDP's reluctance to form a coalition with the JCP does not mean the two parties will not cooperate.
Japan's Lower House slams Myanmar coup, calling for return to democracy
The move reflects Japan's intention to show its opposition to the Myanmar junta ahead of a three-day summit meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations.
There will be no by-election for the seat vacated by Sugawara as a general election will be held later this year with Lower House members' terms running out on Oct. 21.
