Japan's General Election Policy Debates

What the Politicians Propose in the Campaign for Japan’s General Election

By Takuya Nishimura, Senior Fellow, Former Editorial Writer for The Hokkaido Shimbun
The views expressed by the author are his own and are not associated with The Hokkaido Shimbun
You can find his blog, J Update here.
October 21, 2024. Special to Asia Policy Point

The campaign season for Japan’s House of Representatives is in its last week. Most polls conducted by news organizations indicate that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito coalition will maintain its simple majority in the House. The LDP, however, is on the brink of losing its stand-alone majority. Some indicate uncertainty whether the coalition can reach the simple majority.

The leading opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), is estimated to increase its seats to some extent, and the Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin-no Kai) is expected to lose seats. Other opposition parties would not win enough seats to have a significant impact on national politics.

As the race enters the home stretch, the parties are actively promoting their policies to voters throughout Japan. All the parties have focused on three issues: political reform, diplomacy and security, and the economy.
 
Political Reform
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the LDP president, continues to apologize to voters about the party’s slush fund scandal. “I am going to reform the LDP into a party abiding by the rules,” emphasizes Ishiba in his campaign speeches.

The LDP includes in its campaign platform “consideration of abolishing the policy activities fund,” a fund whose proceeds are distributed from the party to its members without disclosing how a member spent the proceeds. The platform is limited to “consideration,” however, and does not explicitly call for abolition of the fund.  Elsewhere, the LDP leaders speaks of “freedom of political activities.”

The opposition parties –as well as Komeito – propose complete abolition of the policy activities fund. Most parties record the policy activities fund in their political fund reports, and the LDP has the largest amount. The opposition parties urge greater transparency on the use of policy activity funds and criticize the LDP for maintaining the status quo.

The opposition parties also support a prohibition on contributions to political parties from companies and other organizations, such as labor unions. The 1994 political reforms suggested ending contributions from companies and other organizations to individual politicians but did not affect donations to parties. The LDP and Komeito do not back this change.
 
Diplomacy and Security
Ishiba has not insisted LDP platform adopt his own security policy agenda. While this platform includes a sentence that “We seek Japan-U.S. State of Forces Agreement (SOFA) as it should be,” it does not mention an Asian version of NATO. Other Asian countries, as well as the United States, are skeptical that Ishiba would not attempt to form a NATO-like organization.

Rather than push his earlier agenda, Ishiba accepts the security policies of his predecessor, Fumio Kishida. The LDP campaign policy package includes firm commitments to the Three Security Documents in December 2022 -- National Security Strategy of Japan, National Defense Strategy and Defense Buildup Program – and to a 43 trillion-yen defense budget over the five years between FY 2023 and FY 2027.

The CDP says that it will doublecheck Kishida’s defense budget hike and promises that it will never increase taxes for the defense budget. The CDP approves of the Japan-U.S. alliance in its current form and emphasizes the importance of Japan’s traditional “exclusively defense-oriented policy.”

While Ishin does not differ significantly from the LDP on diplomatic and security policy, the Japan Communist Party (JCP) opposes the entire LDP security plank. The JCP demands repeal of the 2015 security legislation, which reinterpreted Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution, fundamental revisions to the Japan-U.S. SOFA, and an immediate stop to construction of a new U.S. air base in Henoko, Okinawa.
 
The Economy
Notwithstanding political reform and security policy, the economy is the top issue for voters in Japan, just as it is for voters in the U.S. In a poll by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) in mid-October, 34 percent of the respondents thought that the economy and measures on price hikes were the most important issue, leaving other issues behind.

Ishiba has promised to submit a supplementary budget for economic stimulus to the Diet right after the election. The supplement would be more than that of last fall’s, which amounted to 13 trillion yen. The supplement will include allowances to low-income families, support for local jobs such as agriculture and fishing, and subsidies for the chip industries. Komeito urges that subsidies for gasoline, electricity and gas be extended beyond its current expiration date.

The LDP also proposes support for higher education, and Komeito sets a goal of making college tuition free in 2030s.

The CDP focuses on the middle class and proposes to raise workers’ wages, including increase in the minimum wage to the level of 1,500 yen. Noda proposes a refundable credit to the consumption tax that would replace the current system of dual tax rates for daily necessities and other expenditures.

Other opposition parties argue for lowering the consumption tax rate. Ishin proposes a reduction from ten to eight percent, the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) wants a greater reduction to five percent as does the JCP as a precursor to ending the consumption tax.
 
Other Policy Matters
The LDP hopes to resume the use of as many nuclear power plant reactors as possible if they meet new safety standards. The CDP would approve no new nuclear power plants. The JCP wants adopt a goal of zero nuclear power as quickly as possible.

The LDP stresses its efforts to eliminate the inconvenience of sharing the same surname between spouses but does not propose legislation on separate surnames. Most LDP members are opposed to this change. Komeito, the CDP, and some other opposition parties would immediately introduce legislation to authorize separate surnames.

On the Treaty on the Prohibition of the Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), the LDP refuses to participate in it, while the CDP proposes that Japan join meetings about the treaty as an observer, and JCP would have the government  ratify the treaty.

The LDP, Komeito, Ishin, and DPP propose amending Japan’s Constitution, while the CDP stresses the need for further discussion. The JCP strongly opposes any change.