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Japan’s ruling coalition has lost its majority in the country’s upper house, but Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said he has no plans to quit.<\/p>\n
Voters went to the polls on Sunday for the tightly-contested election, being held at a time of frustration at the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito over rising prices and the threat of US tariffs.<\/p>\n
Speaking after polls closed on Sunday, the prime minister said he “solemnly” accepts the “harsh result” but that his focus was on trade negotiations.<\/p>\n
Having already lost its majority in Japan’s more powerful lower house last year, the defeat will undermine the coalition’s influence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The ruling coalition needed 50 seats to retain control of the 248-seat upper chamber. It ended up with 47. <\/p>\n
The Constitutional Democratic Party, the main opposition, came in second with 22 seats.<\/p>\n
Half of the seats in the upper chamber were being voted on in Sunday’s election, with members elected for six-year terms. <\/p>\n
Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer in Japanese Studies at Kanda University of International Studies, told BBC News support for more right wing parties had cut into the LDP’s conservative support base. <\/p>\n
“Prime Minister Ishiba is considered not conservative enough by many supporters of the former Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe,” he said. <\/p>\n
“They think that he just doesn’t have the nationalistic views on history, he doesn’t have the strong views against China that Abe had.”<\/p>\n
Shinzo Abe was formerly the leader of the LDP and was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, in office twice between 2006 and 2007, and 2012 and 2020. <\/p>\n
Mr Hall said some of the party’s support had gone towards the Sanseito party – who would now be saying things which “haven’t been said in public before by members of the upper house,” – noting the party’s pull towards “conspiracy theories, anti-foreign statements, [and] very strong revisionist views about history”.<\/p>\n
Ishiba’s centre-right party has governed Japan almost continuously since 1955, albeit with frequent changes of leader.<\/p>\n
The result underscores voters’ frustration with Ishiba, who has struggled to inspire confidence as Japan struggles against economic headwinds, a cost-of-living crisis and trade negotiations with the United States.<\/p>\n
Many are also unhappy about inflation – particularly the price of rice – and a string of political scandals that have beleaguered the LDP in recent years.<\/p>\n
The last three LDP premiers who lost a majority in the upper house stepped down within two months, and analysts had predicted that a significant loss in this election would yield a similar outcome.<\/p>\n
This would open the field for a potential run at the leadership by other notable LDP members, including Sanae Takaichi, who finished second to Ishiba in last year’s leadership election; Takayuki Kobayashi, a former economic security minister; and Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.<\/p>\n
In any case, a change of leadership within the ruling party would almost certainly unleash political drama and destabilise Japan’s government at a pivotal moment in US-Japan trade negotiations.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the Tokyo Stock Exchange was closed for a public holiday, but the yen strengthened on global markets against other major currencies as the results appeared to have been expected by investors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Support for the ruling coalition appears to have been eroded by candidates from the small, right-leaning Sanseito party, led by Sohei Kamiya, who has been compared to Trump by some media outlets. <\/p>\n
The party, which is known for its “Japanese First” policy, drew conservative votes with its anti-immigration rhetoric. On Sunday, it won 14 seats – a big addition to the single seat the party won in the last election. <\/p>\n
Sanseito rose to prominence during the pandemic, as it peddled conspiracy theories on YouTube such as the “deep state” and warned people not to wear masks or vaccinate themselves. <\/p>\n
The fringe party’s nativist rhetoric widened its appeal ahead of Sunday’s vote, as policies regarding foreign residents and immigration became a focal point of many parties’ campaigns.<\/p>\n
Famous for its isolationist culture and strict immigration policies, the island nation has experienced a record surge in both tourists and foreign residents in recent years.<\/p>\n
The influx has further driven up prices for Japanese people and fuelled a sentiment among some that foreigners are taking advantage of the country, aggravating discontent.<\/p>\n
Against that same backdrop, Ishiba last week launched a task force aimed at tackling “crimes or nuisance behaviours committed by some foreign nationals”, including those relating to immigration, land acquisitions and unpaid social insurance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n