Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru’s coalition squandered what remained of its withering political power on Sunday, losing its upper-house majority in a “disastrous” election that saw far-right parties surge and voter turnout spike.
The outcome could exacerbate policy gridlock in Japan and complicate Tokyo’s efforts to address cost-of-living concerns.
Japan’s upper house has 248 seats. Just over half of those seats were up for grabs in Sunday’s election. Ishiba’s party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and its junior partner, Komeito, were looking to scrape by with a simple majority of 125 seats, but came up three short. To survive, they will have to work with other parties on a case-by-case basis.
This is the coalition’s third electoral collapse in less than a year, following a historic loss in Japan’s lower house election last October and setbacks in Tokyo prefectural elections.
It’s the first time “the LDP-led coalition has lost a majority in both houses of parliament since the party’s formation in 1955,” according to the Associated Press. The Japan Times called Sunday's result a “drubbing.”
This year, voter turnout hit 58.51 per cent, up from 52.05 per cent in 2022.
The show must go on
Ishiba said Monday that he has no plans to step down or bring other parties into his coalition. The LDP will meet on July 31 to discuss the election outcome.
The beleaguered prime minister chalked up the loss to his coalition’s inability to craft convincing policies on inflation and immigration. Several far-right Japanese parties gained seats in the election, including Sanseito, which secured 14 seats.
Sanseito offered a “Japanese First” platform to voters and warned against an “invasion” of foreigners. Foreign residents account for three per cent of Japan’s population.
Trump, Ishiba agree to tariff deal
Ishiba scored a surprise victory on Tuesday: U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a U.S.-Japan trade deal that will see U.S. tariffs lowered to 15 per cent on Japanese goods. Tokyo has pledged, in return, to invest an additional US$550 billion in the U.S. Trump had previously threatened a 25 per cent tariff on Japanese goods.
Japan is one of Canada’s most important economic and security partners in the Asia Pacific. Ottawa and Tokyo just signed an information-sharing agreement allowing them to more easily transmit sensitive data.
Bilateral merchandise trade, meanwhile, hit C$2.6 billion in May. Canada also has a pavilion at this year’s World Expo, held in Osaka, Japan.
