# 2025 Japanese House of Councillors election

The 27th general election of the House of Councillors is scheduled to be held in Japan by 27 July 2025 to elect 124, half of the 248 members of the House of Councillors, the upper house of the National Diet, for a term of six years.

## Background
### Previous election

The October 2024 general election resulted in the loss of majority of the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito governing coalition in the House of Representatives under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, with the possibility of the ruling coalition suffering another "major defeat" at the House of Councillors election if opposition parties unite their candidates.

### Multi-party cooperation
#### Opposition unification attempts

According to Jiji Press, if five opposition parties, including the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), make deals in the 32 single-seat constituencies, the ruling LDP-Komeito coalition is projected to win 10 seats against the opposition camp's 22, and only three if the Nippon Ishin no Kai, also known as the Japan Innovation Party, joins the opposition alliance. In January 2025 Ishin introduced a plan to the CDP that would seek to "unify" the opposition in single-member districts against the LDP; their proposal involves the use of online polls and holding primary elections. Reiwa, the Social Democrats, and the Democratic Party For the People (DPFP) cast doubt on the plan while the Communists declined to participate entirely. Later in February, Ishin announced that a decision on whether or not to hold opposition primaries would be made within the month; party Secretary General Ryohei Iwatani [jp] commented that every party except the Communist Party had been "quite positive" about the plan. He also said the party was open to reforms to their plan by the CDP. In early March, Ishin co-leader Seiji Maehara proposed running a primary system with the CDP in the prefectures of Shiga, Nara and Wakayama (1 seat each) for election; all of them are in the area of influence of Osaka, Ishin's stronghold. Speaking on the prospect of uniting the opposition CDP leader Yoshiko Noda stated "I generally support the plan, but I have told Maehara that we need the participation of all opposition parties, so we should make an appeal for them to participate, and that if the only opposition candidates in a constituency are from the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Japan Restoration Party [Ishin], then we should settle it through a primary election."

#### LDP-Komeito

The ruling LDP signed an agreement with the Komeito in February regarding cooperation in the election, which stated that the LDP would support Komeito candidates in 5 districts & set conditions for Komeito support of those implicated in the slush fund scandal. At LDP’s 70th anniversary celebration event on 9 March, Ishiba said the party should aim to unify and return to its roots of “people-friendly politics.” The day earlier Ishiba stated he wanted to “win at all costs.” Ishiba’s former leadership rival Takayuki Kobayashi criticized Ishiba’s speech, claiming he did not get a sense of a string message from the Prime Minister; others believed the part’s minority status in the Diet hurt the LDP, and Ishiba's efforts to shape the country’s national agenda. Sanae Takaichi, also a former LDP leadership rival, was critical of Ishiba's speech as well. On the same day as Ishiba's speech, Mio Sugita was revealed as an endorsed candidate for proportional representation in the election. In 2022 and 2023, Sugita had been found guilty of human rights violations by the Sapporo Legal Affairs Bureau for posting discriminatory statements against ethnic Koreans, LGBT people and others on her blog. Sugita's remarks, for which she apologized, were largely considered to be racist. The Asahi Shimbun reported that the LDP's decision to endorse the controversial former lawmaker was likely due to requests from the conservative wing of the faction close to the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whom Sugita was said to be close to.

#### Other developments

The “partial coalition” between the LDP-Komeito coalition and the opposition Ishin party reached an agreement In February that ensued the passage of the fiscal 2025 budget. The budget included provisions that called free high school education & social insurance premium fee cuts.
In March, DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki stated that the party's goal was to win 21 or more seats in the Upper House.
Sanseito announced they would aim for 6 seats.
The Social Democratic Party said they would attempt to win more than 3 seats in the chamber.

### Ishiba gift certificate scandal

On 13 March 2025, the The Asahi Shimbun newspaper revealed that several LDP members of parliament who were elected for the first time in the 2024 general election received gift certificates from the office of Ishiba in early March. Ishiba’s office later confirmed that he had distributed gift certificates worth approximately ¥100,000 ($676) each to about a dozen lawmakers as "souvenirs” intended to be used to purchase new suits. Ishiba claimed the certificates were paid from his personal funds and were not intended for political activities but as a supplement for living expenses. According to the Yomiuri Shimbum, most of the lawmakers decided to return the gift certificates instead of using them. The incident took place while discussions were underway in the Diet on the transparency of political funds, particularly regarding corporate and organizational donations. Ishiba had met with Komeito Chief Representative Tetsuo Saito the day before, who pledged his party's support for him; earlier in the week upper house LDP lawmaker Shoji Nishida publicly stated that Ishiba should be replaced by a new party President. Ishiba, who was elected as LDP President on a reformist platform, was widely criticized by opposition lawmakers. CDP leader Yoshiko Noda promised to pursue inquiries over the incident in the Diet. Osaka Governor and co-leader of the Ishin party Hirofumi Yoshimura criticized Ishiba’s actions. The Political Funds Control Act prohibits donations of cash or securities to individual politicians; the 100,000 yen in gift certificates in this case could have been considered a 'donation’ in this case.

## Political parties

| Parties | Parties | Leader | Ideology | Seats | Seats | Status |
| Parties | Parties | Leader | Ideology | Last election | Before election | Status |
| | Liberal Democratic Party | Shigeru Ishiba | Conservatism Japanese nationalism | 119 / 248 | 115 / 248 | Governing coalition |
| | Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan | Yoshihiko Noda | Liberalism | 39 / 248 | 38 / 248 | Opposition |
| | Komeito | Keiichi Ishii | Buddhist democracy Social conservatism | 27 / 248 | 27 / 248 | Governing coalition |
| | Nippon Ishin no Kai | Hirofumi Yoshimura and Seiji Maehara | Right-wing populism Economic liberalism | 21 / 248 | 20 / 248 | Opposition |
| | Japanese Communist Party | Tomoko Tamura | Communism Democratic socialism | 11 / 248 | 11 / 248 | Opposition |
| | Democratic Party For the People | Yuichiro Tamaki | Conservatism | 10 / 248 | 9 / 248 | Opposition |
| | Reiwa Shinsengumi | Tarō Yamamoto | Progressivism Left-wing populism | 5 / 248 | 5 / 248 | Opposition |
| | Collaborative Party | Ayaka Otsu (disputed) | Anti–TV license fees | 2 / 248 | 0 / 248 | Opposition |
| | Social Democratic Party | Mizuho Fukushima | Social democracy | 1 / 248 | 2 / 248 | Opposition |
| | Sanseitō | Sohei Kamiya | Ultraconservatism Right-wing populism | 1 / 248 | 1 / 248 | Unaffiliated |