J Update

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) wrapped up its assessment on the Upper House election, in which the party suffered serious defeat, in Joint Plenary Meeting (JPM) on September 2. Although the party attributed the defeat to the slush fund scandal, it did not explicitly refer to responsibility of the president Shigeru Ishiba. Ishiba announced his willingness to continue as the prime minister in the meeting, apologizing about loss of seats in the election. However, four LDP leaders, including Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama, offered their resignation to Ishiba. Ishiba appeared to be isolated from LDP leadership.   A special committee on reviewing the Upper House election submitted  a report  to the JPM. It assessed that LDP’s defeat was caused by secret fund scandal. The report also argued that LDP’s measures on price inflation had not been accepted by voters, or that a gaffe by an LDP member damaged image of the party. It voided referring to Ishiba’s responsibility. Th...

Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the front page that the public prosecutors’ office was investigating fraud by a lawmaker with Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin-no Kai) on August 27 th . The next day, the newspaper carried an article that the fraud reported on the previous day was about wrong person and apologized about it. Yomiuri later ran an article of reviewing its misinformation which was made on preconception of a staff writer. It is very unusual mistake committed by a major newspaper in Japan. Yomiuri reported that the Special Investigation Division of Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is making investigation on Taku Ikeshita (Osaka 10 th  district of House of Representatives, Ishin) with suspicion that his secretaries had received salary from national government with no record of working for Ikeshita. The report identified the secretaries as assembly members of Takatsuki city, Osaka.   It is prohibited for a lawmaker’s secretary to have another job, except a regis...

As movement for replacing the president, Shigeru Ishiba, expands in the party, the leaders of Liberal Democratic Party enhance their effort to defend Ishiba. Decision makers in the LDP is raising hurdle against having early presidential election to ask responsibility of Ishiba about defeat in the Upper House election. The more LDP discusses responsibility of the election, the further the party is alienated from the ordinary people who do not require an early presidential election.   It has been usual for LDP president to step down when the party lost confidence of general voters in an election. Resignation of LDP president is a synonym of resignation of prime minister. Prime ministers who stepped down after serious defeat in an election include Ryutaro Hashimoto in 1998 or Shinzo Abe in his first term in 2007. Anti-Ishiba groups in the LDP realizes that Ishiba needs to be replaced, because LDP lost majority in both Houses of the Diet under the leadership of Ishiba.   Ishiba’s ...