Japan’s PM Takaichi Searches for Policies

Launch of Five LDP/JIP Working Groups 

By Takuya Nishimura, Senior Fellow,  Asia Policy Point
Former editorial writer for the Hokkaido Shimbun
You can find his blog, J Update here.
November 17, 2025

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) launched five working groups to implement agreements they reached when forming their coalition. The groups will address five issues: reductions in the number of Diet seats, regulation of political contributions from companies and organizations, amendment of Article 9 of the constitution, reform of the governmental system, and social security reform. Although these issues are a top priority for JIP, the LDP views them as secondary but necessary to discuss in order to keep JIP in the leading coalition. Thus, even at the beginning of this exercise, the two parties are not necessarily headed in the same direction.
 
The working groups met between November 11 and 13. Several lawmakers leading the working groups attended and discussed how to proceed. Neither party has a clear idea of what the groups are likely to accomplish.   
 
Here are the remits for each of the five working groups:
 
1. Reduction of Diet Seats
Headed by Katsunobu Kato (LDP) and Yasuto Urano (JIP)
JIP believes that Diet seat reduction will boost the party’s popularity based on what they think was the success of seat reductions in the Osaka Prefectural Assembly and Osaka City Assembly. JIP also believes that the reductions appealed to voters who were frustrated with too many assembly members who enjoyed privileges as representatives of the people. JIP sold their policy as a self-sacrificing reform.
This issue was an “absolute condition” for the JIP to enter the coalition. The coalition agreement states that the two parties will “seek” to submit and enact a bill in the 2025 extraordinary session that would eliminate 10 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives. The current extraordinary session will close on December 17.

The LDP Secretary General, Shun-ichi Suzuki, has said that it would be difficult for the two parties to pass the bill by the end of the session. The JIP’s co-leader, Fumitake Fujita, has admitted that the coalition cannot bring all of the election reform matters to a close by the end of the year. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has said that she will seek a broad consensus for reform, including the buy-in of the opposition parties. At its first meeting on this issue, the working group merely reconfirmed the October agreement.

Some LDP lawmakers have argued that this Diet seat reduction should be discussed in the broader context of Diet’s election system. Such discussions would include new multiple-seat districts in the House of Representatives to replace single-seat districts. Other LDP members would support only a bill limited to a scheduling of the seat reduction.

Despite an obvious lack of consensus even within the coalition, the JIP does not show any sign of leaving the coalition if the seat reduction does not take place. The JIP’s “absolute condition” for joining the coalition is not non-negotiable; JIP will stay with the LDP provided that the LDP continues to discuss this issue with the JIP.
 
2. Political Contributions from Companies and Organizations
Headed by Sadahisa Furukawa (LDP) and Yasuto Urano (JIP)
Just like the opposition parties, the JIP has advocated for the prohibition of political donations from companies and organizations. The LDP, by contrast, heavily relies on these contributions. After Komeito left the coalition with the LDP, frustrated by the LDP’s laziness on this reform, JIP tried to include this issue in the coalition agreement. However, by its terms, the agreement provides only that the coalition will resolve the issue by the end of Takaichi’s term as LDP president, which will be September 2027. The agreement thus was an obvious setback for JIP.

JIP wants to eliminate donations from companies and organizations since it identifies itself as a reform party. The LDP, however, calls for “more transparency than prohibition,” arguing that a ban on contributions infringes the freedom of political activity that is guaranteed to each business entity. In the working group’s first meeting,, the parties could not even set a schedule for their next meeting.
 
3. Constitutional Amendment
Headed by Yoshitaka Shindo (LDP) and Nobuyuki Baba (JIP)
JIP is more radical on amending Article 9 than is the LDP. JIP argues that Sentence 2 of Article 9, which currently prohibits the use of military force, should be replaced by language that creates a national defense force. The LDP takes a more nuanced and less sweeping view: the party would add an emergency clause to deal with disaster or invasion by a foreign country and a description of a self-defense force in Article 9.  The LDP would not, however, repeal Sentence 2.

Although the coalition agreement calls for the parties to agree by the end of FY2026 on language for a proposed constitutional amendment, neither party is really focused on this issue. At its first meeting, the working group simply confirmed that the parties will accelerate their discussions. We may assume that the parties have not yet assembled the necessary two-thirds majorities in both chambers of the Diet.
 
4. Reform of Governmental System
Headed by Ichiro Miyashita (LDP) and Alex Saito (JIP)
For JIP, reform of the governmental system is all about a “backup capital initiative” —the designation of Osaka as the backup capital in the event of a disaster in Tokyo. With its main office not in Tokyo but in Osaka, JIP primarily represents Osaka’s interests. Although it failed to win two referendums in Osaka on the “Osaka Capital Initiative,” JIP still hopes to move the political functions of Japan’s capital from Tokyo to Osaka. The backup capital initiative will come into play if a disaster occurs. This can be a revised version of the Osaka Capital Initiative.

Most LDP lawmakers have little interest in this matter since it originates in the JIP.  Undeniably, the issue is less urgent than the issues, such as political reform and management of price inflation, taken up by the other working groups. In the first working group meeting, both parties agreed to prepare talking points for the next meeting.
 
5. Social Security Reform
Headed by Norihisa Tamura (LDP) and Satoshi Umemura (JIP)
Social security reform is another crucial issue for JIP. The party included it in their campaign platform for the Upper House elections in July. JIP promised an annual 60-thousand-yen reduction in social insurance premiums.

A specific issue that JIP has raised is the reduction of the costs of “over the counter (OTC)” medicines whose formularies are close to those of commercial drugs in drug stores. The cost of OTC medicines is funded by health insurance. Both parties shared at the first meeting of this working group an end-of-the-year target of the end of 2025 to reach an agreement. 
 
The Takaichi administration recognizes that these five working groups are necessary to maintain its coalition government. However, the LDP has its own history on each of the issues. It is unlikely that formation of a coalition will suddenly bridge the wide gap between the two parties. In the past, the LDP used working groups in the coalition with Komeito and in the trilateral coalition with the Japan Socialist Party and New Party Sakigake.
 
It is far more important for Takaichi to implement her own agenda. She established some working groups in her government to promote economic and security policies, including the Panel on Economic Growth Strategy, as soon as she formed her Cabinet.
 
In her discussion at Plenary Sittings of the House of Representatives, Takaichi said that the Shinzo Abe administration’s economic growth strategy, which was one of the three pillars of Abenomics, had been insufficient to boost the Japanese economy. Takaichi intends that this new panel will discuss economic strategy regardless of budgetary requirements, while the traditional Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy will manage the balance between revenue and spending.
 
Takaichi also convened a Cabinet meeting on Foreigners to address problems with foreign visitors in Japan. Some conservative parties such as Sanseito call for stricter regulation. Takaichi wants to take on this issue to bring the voters who voted for those conservative parties back to the LDP. She has also directed the council on the establishment of National Intelligence Bureau to discuss enhancement of the intelligence community.
 
However, there already are bodies in the government to discuss these issues, which Takaichi hopes will produce specific policies. Establishing an array of working groups to pursue various policies was a common practice for previous prime ministers. Launching working groups does not mean that policies a prime minister has promised to the voters will become a reality.