July 22, 2025

In the House of Councilors election held on July 20, among the 17 single-seat constituencies where a joint struggle of concerned citizens and opposition parties was realized, unified opposition candidates won a victory in 12 districts. In Okinawa, “All Okinawa” candidate Takara Sachika defeated her Liberal Democratic Party rival.

The Japanese Communist Party retained a seat in the Tokyo constituency and secured two seats in the proportional representation system. The number of seats held by the JCP totals seven, down four from its pre-election seats.

In the nationwide proportional representation bloc, the JCP obtained a victory by Koike Akira and Shirakawa Yoko with more than 2.86 million votes (4.84% of total vote cast). In electoral districts, Kira Yoshiko succeeded in winning her third term with 562,443 votes.

The LDP and its coalition partner Komei Party secured 39 and eight seats, respectively, but lost their majority in the Upper House. The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan maintained its pre-election strength of 38. The “Nippon Ishin” party increased its pre-election seats by one to 18 and the Democratic Party for the People by 17 to 22. The far-right, xenophobic “Sanseito” party added 14 seats to its pre-election seat of one.

In Sunday’s election, the number of successful female candidates reached a record high of 42. The voter turnout rate stood at 58.51%, up 6.46 percentage points from the previous election three years ago.

Regarding the election results, JCP Executive Committee Chair Tamura Tomoko at a press conference on July 21 appreciated the fact that in the election campaign, the JCP with its policy proposals called for a change in the LDP politics and worked for a victory of unified opposition party candidates, which resulted in relegating the LDP-Komei force into a minority position in the Upper House.

Asked about opposition parties’ collaboration in the post-election Diet, Tamura said that what voters in the election indicated was that they want to change the political direction to a people-oriented one. She stressed that the question is whether opposition parties will confront the LDP and work to fulfill people’s demands, or whether they will become a supplementary force to the LDP. She expressed her determination to develop a movement jointly with concerned citizens in order to realize a lower consumption tax and to meet other people’s urgent demands.

Past related article:
> Unified opposition candidates to be put up in 17 single-seat districts in upcoming Upper House election [July 1, 2025]