November 28, 2025

A bill to revise the Rules of the House of Representatives which aims to cut the number of members in House standing committees was approved at the House plenary session on November 27 by majority vote. The Japanese Communist Party opposed the bill.

With the revision, the number of members in nine standing committees with more than 40 members will be slashed by five. The nine committees are: Health, Labour and Welfare; Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; Cabinet; Internal Affairs and Communications; Financial Affairs; Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Economy, Trade and Industry; and Audit and Oversight of Administration.

Earlier on the day at a Lower House steering committee meeting, Japanese Communist Party representative Shiokawa Tetsuya spoke in opposition to the revision.

Shiokawa pointed out, “To reduce the number of members in nine of the 17 Lower House standing committees by five across the board is unprecedented.” He said, “Such a measure will exclude minor parties from committee deliberations and prevent diverse public opinions from being heard.”

Shiokawa also stressed, “In Japan’s parliament which adopts the committee system, in order to enable standing committees to play their roles, such as government oversight and lawmaking, it is vital for them to have a certain proportion of members according to their jurisdiction.”

The JCP lawmaker said, “Cuts in the number of standing committee members will lead to the weakening of oversight, an important function of the Diet, which is totally unacceptable.”