Japan Upper House Election Campaign Begins... Ruling LDP Expected to Win

On the 22nd (local time), when the official campaign for the Japanese House of Councillors election began, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) was campaigning in support of the election.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The campaign for the Japanese House of Councillors (Upper House) election, which serves as a mid-term evaluation of the Kishida Fumio Cabinet launched last October, officially began on the 22nd. The election will be held on the 10th of next month. Currently, the Kishida Cabinet’s approval rating stands at 60%, and the ruling party is expected to maintain a majority of seats.

According to NHK and other sources, the Japanese House of Councillors has 245 seats, with members serving six-year terms, and half of the members are elected every three years. Accordingly, in the election held on the 10th of next month, 125 members of the House of Councillors, including vacancies, will be newly elected. The current seat distribution by party is as follows: the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) holds 111 seats, the coalition partner Komeito has 28 seats, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party has 44 seats, the Democratic Party for the People and Nippon Ishin no Kai each have 15 seats, and the Communist Party holds 13 seats.

NHK reported that as of 1 p.m. on the day, 542 candidates had registered for this election. This number exceeds the initially expected 535 and is about 170 more than the House of Councillors election three years ago. Among them, female candidates number 180, accounting for 33% of the total, marking the largest scale and proportion in history, NHK said.

This election is expected to focus on evaluations of the Kishida administration, measures against soaring prices due to the Ukraine crisis, foreign and security policies such as defense enhancement, and post-COVID-19 economic recovery policies. At present, a landslide victory for the LDP is anticipated. According to a public opinion poll conducted by Nihon Keizai Shimbun from the 17th to the 19th of this month, the party voters most want to vote for in the House of Councillors election was the LDP (43%), followed by Nippon Ishin no Kai (10%), and the Constitutional Democratic Party (8%).