As everyone knows, the LDP and Komeito lost in the recent House of Councillors election, and the ruling coalition lost its majority in both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. Going forward, the government will be forced to steer the country in a more difficult direction than ever before.
Even so, the Japanese people have an exquisite sense of balance. I was deeply moved when I saw the results of this election.

From the beginning, I thought that the LDP and Komeito would not win, but I was worried that they might suffer a major defeat, the LDP-Komeito government might collapse, and a large political vacuum might be created.
With urgent issues such as the tariff issue with the United States and a Taiwan emergency that could happen at any time, if politics falls into chaos, we will not be able to take appropriate measures for important issues, and Japan’s national power will decline several levels from now. As a result, the lives of the people will become even more exhausted.

The rise of new forces such as the Democratic Party for the People and the Democratic Party for the People is a welcome thing in the sense that it breathes fresh air into politics, but at this point, they are political amateurs. If such amateurs were to seize power and become the ruling party, their response would be immature, and it would be nothing but a tragedy. In terms of diplomacy, they would be easy prey for experienced politicians from other countries.

Depending on the results of this election, the possibility of this happening could not be denied. That is how strong the headwinds against the ruling party were. However, when the election was over, the ruling party was indeed defeated, but the damage was not so great that it would collapse, and it was at a level where it could maintain its previous course, although it was tough. In fact, Prime Minister Ishiba expressed his intention to continue in his position. This was probably because he thought he could manage somehow. He must have thought that he could at least do it until the issues at hand were sorted out.

In this election, the people allowed the opposition and emerging forces to make a breakthrough, while keeping it at a level where the ruling party could be maintained. Considering the situation Japan finds itself in, I think that this is the most moderate judgment. It is truly an exquisite judgment.
Japanese politics is at a major turning point, and the trend toward multi-party systems will accelerate for a while. The people’s sense of balance will become even more important. (Kei Kitajima)

※Translating Japanese articles into English with AI