Ishiba tries to clean house | Today in Japanese politics

Ishiba takes aim at scandal-implicated candidates, while parties begin releasing their campaign manifestoes, the Diet debates, and Ishiba prepares for his first trip abroad

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The Nikkei Shimbun cited my analysis of Ishiba from this newsletter in articles here and here. My essay for Nikkei Asia, “New Japan PM Ishiba needs public support to fend off Abe loyalists,” is available here.

The rundown

Ahead of the dissolution of the House of Representatives on 9 October, parties have begun releasing their manifestos for the 27 October general election. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru announced that the party will withhold its nomination from at least ten lawmakers implicated in the kickback scandal, raising tensions within the party ahead of the general election campaign as Ishiba tries to signal a new era for the LDP. In parliamentary deliberations as well as in media interviews, Ishiba and members of his government emphasized that the government’s priority in the near term will be overcoming deflation. Ishiba, meanwhile, will take his first overseas trip as prime minister on 10 October when he goes to Laos to participate in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led meetings and hold bilateral meetings with regional leaders. Finally, in further reading, two prominent outgoing political figures gave lengthy interviews, the Sankei Shimbun looks at Ishiba’s Christian beliefs, and Ozawa Ichirō is pessimistic.

General Election 2024

CDP leader Noda Yoshihiko unveils the party’s electoral manifesto. Source: CDP.

On 7 October, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) released its manifesto for the 27 October general election. Using the catch phrase “a change of government is the greatest political reform,” the manifesto highlights political reform as an issue – calling for greater transparency around donations, a ban on corporate giving and a ban on the inheritance of political funds – but also pledges minimum wage and small business pay increases, calls for investments in digital and clean energy technologies; raising Japan’s self-sufficiency in food production; making rural communities more resilient; and promoting gender equality, including allowing spouses to have separate surnames. The CDP’s new manifesto is more centrist – it discusses strengthening ties with Japan’s neighbors on the foundation of a strong US-Japan relationship and abandons calls to phase out nuclear energy – than the 2021 CDP manifesto, which was notably progressive in its priorities. Also included are proposals to reduce the Bank of Japan’s inflation target from 2% to 0% and transfer the BOJ’s holdings of ETF and other financial assets to the government. (manifesto)

The Democratic Party for the People (DPFP) also released its manifesto, the centerpiece of which was a proposal for a “Reiwa Era Income-Doubling Plan.” The party wants to reduce consumption taxes; cut social security premiums for working-age Japanese; expand tax deductions; make education free through high school; build new nuclear plants; and, in political reform, the DPFP wants to ban policy activity funds, establish an auditor for political funds, and promote greater political participation through internet voting and lowering the age of eligibility to run for office to 18. (manifesto)