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Japan Times
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
CDP shows ‘modest' outcome as Noda struggles to unite the opposition camp
As the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) went into Sunday's Upper House poll with hopes of greatly adding to its preelection total of 38 seats in the 248 seat chamber. But it came out of the election with the exact same number. The party won 22 seats, including 15 district and and seven proportional representation seats, in sharp contrast to populist opposition parties — the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and Sanseito — that significantly boosted their totals. With another 16 CDP Upper House seats not up for election this time, the party now has 38 seats in the chamber. The failure to expand its parliamentary strength could hurt the CDP's attempts to convince smaller opposition parties that it has significant popularity behind it to create an all-opposition coalition that could take power.
Japan Times
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
In Upper House race, younger voters in Tokyo turn to DPP for new direction
A growing drive among younger voters to find an alternative to the traditions of the Liberal Democratic Party is taking center stage in Tokyo ahead of Sunday's Upper House election, where it has 32 candidates in the running for seven seats. One party receiving increased interest amid such a shift is the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), which appears to be drawing in noticeably bigger and younger crowds to their speeches on the streets in the heart of Japan. 'The DPP strongly believes in bringing back a strong Japan — at the same time, we are firmly committed to pursuing policies that shed light on those people who have been dismissed up until now as being on their own,' said the Tokyo district's DPP candidate Mayu Ushida to a crowd in Shibuya Ward on Friday. Although 40-year-old Ushida's youthful energy and public persona as a former NHK announcer is alluring, many in the crowd at her speeches say it's not just about her — they are supporters of what her party stands for and are looking to help the DPP gain more seats in parliament. DPP candidate Mayu Ushida, along with party leader Tamaki Yuichiro, waves to supporters at Shibuya Scramble crossing on Jul. 11. | Yukana Inoue At Ushida's speech held near Shibuya's famous scramble crossing last Friday, she was accompanied by party leader Yuichiro Tamaki, who spent more than three times longer than Ushida talking to passers-by. 'When I say (enrich the working generation), people ask me, 'Are you cutting off the elderly?' — but that's fine,' said Tamaki to an enthusiastic crowd. 'We want to first and foremost offer thorough support to the working generation — all of you who are currently working and young people — because unless we strengthen the power of those who support it, we will ultimately end up reducing pension funds.' The DPP, which runs on the primary campaign promise of increasing take-home pay, resonates with many in Tokyo, where the cost of living is the highest in the country, with supporters highly regarding the party's realistic and seemingly tangible policies. 'Since last year's Lower House election, I was struck by (the DPP's) policies that targeted the current working generation,' said a 23-year-old man, who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, in the crowd in Shibuya. Prior to that, he said he used to support the LDP. '(The DPP's promise of) increasing take-home pay and protecting our own country by ourselves — I really feel that those are necessary (for our future).' With the speech held in Shibuya, an area typically full of younger people, Tamaki strategically addressed college students, emphasizing the DPP's success in raising the tax-free income threshold for dependent children with part-time jobs from ¥1.03 million to ¥1.5 million, following through on its promise during the Lower House election. 'This was something that no one has done for 30 years — no party even paid attention to it — but we fought the election by incorporating the voices from university students in our policy and negotiated with the ruling party, and we were able to raise the amount to ¥1.5 million,' said Tamaki on Friday. 'This is what I mean — it may be a small change, but we create change with specific suggestions.' A 21-year-old college student listening to Ushida, who was accompanied by the DPP secretary-general Kazuya Shimba the previous day in Hamura city, Tokyo, said she became interested in the DPP after taking an online party-matching questionnaire during last year's Lower House election and finding her beliefs aligned closest to it. 'Back then, I didn't really know them, but when I did more research I was surprised to find that there was a party that was doing everything I wanted — since I'm a college student, I really wanted them to raise the tax-free income threshold from ¥1.03 million,' said Sato, who asked to go by her last name. 'Since there are no DPP candidates in the Ibaraki district, I can only vote for the party under the proportional representation,' said Sato, who attends university in Tokyo but resides in Ibaraki Prefecture. In the district, media polls suggest, candidates from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Sanseito are vying for the DPP supporters, but neither interest her. 'I'm from Ibaraki, so cars are an absolute necessity, so I really want them to pay the gasoline tax .' One of the DPP's campaign promises for this election is cutting the tax on gasoline to bring down gas prices — a lifeline for many like Sato. A crowd gathers to hear DPP candidate Mayu Ushida, accompanied by DPP secretary-general Kazuya Shimba, in front of Hamura station on Jul. 10. | Yukana Inoue Elsewhere in Tokyo, another DPP candidate — albeit with less backup — is also attempting to garner votes by vouching for topics relevant to the working generation. 'When I began working after graduating from college, the issue I was confronted with was repaying my scholarship,' said Yoshihiro Okumura in front of Jiyugaoka Station in the capital's Meguro Ward on Friday. At 31, he is one of the youngest candidates in the Tokyo district and spoke on the increasing number of working-generation people struggling to repay student loans, an issue that speaks to many in their 20s to 40s. 'A number of factors have combined to create this situation, including the economic issue that a family's take-home pay is not increasing while college tuition and living expenses are rising,' he said. Aside from the DPP's pocketbook campaign, some constituents straying from the LDP have found a new home in far-right Sanseito , where a singer and candidate who goes by the name Saya has gained mass support running on the party's platform of 'Japanese first,' according to polls by major news agencies. These alternatives in the district stand in jarring contrast to the LDP's Keizo Takemi, who is seeking to be re-elected for a sixth time at 73 years old. The former health minister has taken a contrasting approach to the DPP's grassroots tactics, appealing to seasoned supporters with speeches mainly held indoors with backing by big names including Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, and former prime ministers Fumio Kishida and Taro Aso. However, the district continues to be led by celebrity LDP candidate Daichi Suzuki — a former sports agency chief and Olympic swimmer who won gold for Japan in 1988 — with 30% of LDP supporters surveyed saying they will vote for him and also favored by a portion of voters unaffiliated with a party. Others trail closely behind, including incumbent representatives from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan Ayaka Shiomura and the Japanese Communist Party's Yoshiko Kira, as well as Komeito's newcomer Yudai Kawamura, according to polls. Among voters in their 30s, Ushida is receiving the most support, and is favored by 40% of DPP supporters. Early voting for the Upper House election began on July 4.
Japan Times
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, an Upper House election candidate for the Democratic Party for the People, was driving home after she finished stumping on the evening of June 6 in Tokyo when she realized someone was tailing her. She slowed down a couple of times to let the car pass, but it kept tailing her. When she stopped by the side of the road, the other car did too. It took her about half an hour to lose the mystery driver. 'It was scary. I kept wondering how far this person was going to follow me, and whether I'd be able to shake the driver off. I was horrified,' Ushida said Tuesday, recalling the incident. Ushida's campaign office suspects the stalker wanted to find out where she lived rather than disrupt her political activities. Female candidates in the Upper House election face many forms of harassment from voters and supporters — from stalking and death threats to uncomfortably long handshakes and hugs. It remains a challenge as Japan aims to increase the number of women running for office. The government set a goal of having women as 35% of parliamentary candidates by 2025, but only 29.1% of the candidates were women this time. Since the stalking incident, Ushida's office decided to temporarily stop publicizing the schedules of her rallies on social media and the DPP tightened security for her. Police also now patrol Ushida's public rallies. Meet-and-greets can be an uncomfortable experience for female candidates. At times, male voters jump onto Ushida to hug her and refuse to let go of her hand. Now, she prefers fist-bumping to handshakes. In another case, a Sanseito candidate who goes by her first name Saya reportedly received multiple death threats via email and filed a report to the police earlier this month. Independent candidate Shiori Yamao, a former Lower House member of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, also told the police that she has been receiving death threats. 'I know men are trying to be aware, but women are being showered with more defamation than they realize. (Women) are standing here with the risk of being slandered and attacked. It's not just me," Yamao said during a stump speech earlier this month. Female local assembly members are also facing similar problems. Some 53.8% of female local assembly members said they have been harassed, compared to 23.6% for their male counterparts, according to a Cabinet Office report released in June. Among male local assembly members, 41% said they have never experienced harassment nor heard of others experiencing it, compared to 19.5% of female local assembly members. The report showed that women have had to grapple with various forms of harassment, ranging from touching to cat-calling from both voters and colleagues. Experts say that while Japan is far from ridding elections of harassment, creating spaces for female candidates to seek help is an important start. 'Japan doesn't have an organized system of consultation centers and ordinances. The goal of zero harassment is too big for now,' said Mari Hamada, co-director of the NPO Harassment Consultation Center for Women in Politics. 'That's why we need to use public funds and establish specialized agencies (to start tackling harassment),' she said. 'If we don't, we won't see (Japan) getting serious about electing more women to public office.'
Japan Times
07-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
The problems created by a record number of foreign nationals coming to Japan to visit, work and invest in real estate have emerged as a key issue in the July 20 Upper House election, with political parties offering different solutions in their campaign promises. While pocketbook issues, especially price hikes for food and gasoline, are at the top of voter concerns, the question of Japan's policies with regard to foreign nationals are getting a good deal of attention in campaign platforms from both ruling and opposition parties and their leaders. During a debate Wednesday between eight party leaders at the Japan National Press Club (JNPC), Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba explained his party's immigration policy by saying the government wants to take more responsibility for deciding who to let into the country and that it will not tolerate illegal immigration. Ishiba promised to introduce a system in which the backgrounds of individuals are properly verified before they arrive in Japan. 'We will determine who they are, and those with certain past records will not be allowed to enter Japan ... and this is the first priority,' Ishiba said. The Liberal Democratic Party's campaign promises include the establishment of a new central government coordination mechanism and stricter policies, with the goal of achieving 'zero illegal foreign nationals.' The party also says it will strengthen the management system for immigration and residency status. The Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and Nippon Ishin no Kai are among opposition parties that have included foreign national-related policies in their campaign platforms. The DPP says it's not against having more foreign workers but that it is merely highlighting issues faced by some regions in helping them adjust to life in Japan. The party supports the creation of local centers offering multilingual support as well as extending support for Japanese language training for foreign children. But when it comes to purchases of real estate in major cities such as Tokyo by wealthy foreign nationals, DPP leader Yuichiro Tamaki says he favors stricter conditions. 'We welcome investment from wealthy foreigners in real estate in Tokyo or other cities. But at the same time, the purchasing and investing of real estate in Tokyo, for instance, leads to rent increases, making it difficult for ordinary Japanese, especially the younger working generations, to live in Tokyo, Nagoya or Osaka, ' Tamaki said, noting that places such as Singapore place higher taxes on foreign purchases of real estate than those paid by citizens. Nippon Ishin's platform, on the other hand, promises to limit the number of foreign residents. 'In light of the adverse effects of the disorderly increase in the number of foreign nationals and regional friction, we will formulate a population strategy that includes measures to curb the rise in the ratio of foreign nationals and regulate the total number of foreign nationals accepted, and aim to establish a command center function to manage this strategy centrally at the national level,' the promise reads. 'The population of Japanese children is declining. On the other hand, the number of foreigners is steadily increasing,' Nippon Ishin chief Hirofumi Yoshimura said on June 30. In some areas, he added, foreign nationals are concentrated in specific regions and that the current situation is that policies related to them have become ad hoc immigration policies. The Japanese national flag and Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party flag. Part of the LDP's campaign platform ahead of the July 20 Upper House election includes strengthening the management system for immigration and residency status for foreign nationals. | REUTERS 'I oppose this. It's essential to establish a clear framework for foreigner policies. Such a framework should not only address issues like education and health care, but also encompass various administrative services,' Yoshimura said. Despite the parties' attempts to formulate policies concerning foreign nationals, however, recent polls show that these lie much farther down voters' lists of concerns than economic issues. A JNN television poll conducted Saturday and Sunday ranked such policies in fifth place in terms of importance, with just 6% of respondents saying it was the most important issue in the Upper House election. In contrast, 30% ranked policies to deal with high prices as the top issue. The reasons why the foreign national issue has become a focus of the Upper House contest are difficult to pinpoint, experts say. It may be a combination of general economic concerns and the recent popularity of candidates in local elections who advocated a tougher stance on foreign visitors and residents, drawing the attention of political parties nationally. Katsuhiro Yoneshige, head of the automated news company JX Press, which develops and operates election survey engines, says that while it's difficult to point to one trigger for the rush of Upper House campaign promises on foreign nationals, there are a number of possible factors. 'These include rising prices due to the depreciation of the yen, an increase in inbound tourism, and the growing number of foreign workers,' Yoneshige said. As for concerns about foreign real estate purchases in Tokyo making it hard for younger Japanese to live there, Yoneshige said central Tokyo housing prices are reaching levels that make it difficult even for relatively high-income households to afford. 'After 30 years of deflation, residents are not accustomed to rising prices and significant anxiety about increases in housing prices and rents,' he said, which means more intense discussion, including among Upper House candidates, about strengthening regulations. He cited as an example a mayoral election in May in the city of Saitama, where a candidate who campaigned on strict policies toward foreign nationals did better than expected and placed third. The city is adjacent to Kawaguchi and Warabi, where security issues and hate speech directed at the local Kurdish population have become regional concerns. Sanseito, a small right-leaning populist party , says it is pushing for limits on the number of foreign workers and tourists allowed into Japan, and wants to make it more difficult for foreign nationals to become naturalized citizens, which would allow them to stand for public office, or obtain permanent residence. On the other hand, two other mainstream parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and Komeito, have basic policies that promote more foreign workers. The CDP says it will review the overall residency system and promote the establishment of one for the employment of foreign general workers. It's also pushing for the enactment of a new antidiscrimination law. CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda echoed some of what Ishiba said regarding Japan's demographic need for more foreign nationals. 'In this era of population decline, in nursing and child care, there is a shortage of human resources. We should create a multicultural society in which foreign nationals as well as their families are welcomed to come to Japan, work, learn, and integrate into local communities,' Noda said at the JNPC debate last Wednesday. Komeito also supports having more foreign immigrants, but, like the LDP, also says its goal is zero foreign overstayers. The party is offering specific pledges to strengthen the system allowing foreign drivers' licenses to be converted to Japanese licenses, with the aim of reducing road accidents. As of October 2024, there were about 2.3 million foreign workers in Japan , an increase of nearly 254,000 compared with the previous year, according to a labor ministry survey. Of the total, 570,708 (24.8%) were from Vietnam, 408,805 (17.8%) were from China, and 245,565 (10.7%) came from the Philippines. Meanwhile, Japan received nearly 37 million foreign visitors in 2024 , a record high. Increased purchases of real estate by foreign nationals, especially in Tokyo, means property prices there and other major urban centers are surging. Wealthy foreign buyers are getting the blame from some politicians. Ishiba emphasized that Japan needs foreign workers. ' Japan's population decreased by 890,000 last year alone . That's roughly the population of Kagawa Prefecture, and the shortage of labor is a serious issue. We are not talking about illegal immigrants, but legal ones. 'We want them to learn the complicated Japanese language and customs at the expense of the Japanese government, so that they can truly coexist with Japanese society,' he said at the debate.
Japan Times
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Koike-backed party gains seats as LDP dealt setback in Tokyo assembly poll
The political party backed by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike cruised to victory in Sunday's Tokyo metropolitan assembly elections, as voters dealt the Liberal Democratic Party a historic blow. Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First), supported by Koike as a special adviser, remained the biggest party, taking 31 seats, up from 26. Meanwhile, the LDP secured just 21 seats — down from 30 in the previous assembly. The party, which together with Komeito makes up the ruling bloc in national politics, had never had fewer than 23 seats in the assembly. Komeito was also dealt a blow, winning 19 seats, down from 23. It was the first time since 1993 that every Komeito candidate running for the assembly had not managed to win a seat. Still, the three parties supporting Koike — Tomin first, the LDP and Komeito — managed to maintain their combined majority of 127 total seats in the assembly. Two smaller parties, the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito, also won seats for the first time, securing nine and three spots, respectively. Despite fielding 42 candidates, the Path to Rebirth, the new regional party set up by Shinji Ishimaru — runner-up to Koike in last year's gubernatorial election — all failed to win a seat. Turnout across 42 voting districts in Tokyo was 47.59%, 5.2 percentage points higher than the previous election in 2021 and the fifth lowest in history. A main focus of voters were measures to combat rising prices in Tokyo. The election results were seen as an indicator for the Upper House election which is expected to be held July 20.
