Japan Upper House Election Campaign Period Kicks Off

   Tokyo, July 3 (Jiji Press)--The campaign period for the July 20 election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan's parliament, kicked off Thursday.
   The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito will seek to maintain their majority in the Upper House, including seats not contested this time. Meanwhile, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and others hope to force the LDP-Komeito pair into a minority, as they did in last year's election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber.
   Measures to tackle inflation, including a possible reduction of consumption tax, and responses to the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump are expected to be major issues in the campaigning for the race.
   A total of 125 seats in the 248-seat upper chamber--75 prefectural constituency seats and 50 proportional representation seats--are up for grabs in this election. Some 520 candidates are expected to throw their hats in the ring, including around 150 women.
   Excluding by-elections, it is the first time under Japan's modern Constitution that a race for either chamber of parliament is held in the middle of a holiday period of three days or more. Japan celebrates Marine Day, a public holiday, on July 21.

(2025/07/03-09:18)