The Osaka Capital

JIP Drags Down the Diet

By Takuya Nishimura, Senior Fellow, Asia Policy Point
Former editorial writer for the Hokkaido Shimbun
You can find his blog, J Update here.
July 26, 2026
 
The Diet finished its special session on July 25, approving the Backup Capital Act by a small margin in the Upper House at the last moment. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was not eager to enact it. It was the LDP’s coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP: Nippon Ishin-no Kai), that was the main supporter. The opposition parties suspected that JIP was pushing it solely for its own narrow interest. JIP’s persistence on the bill led to a confusing few days at the end of the session.
 
The Backup Capital Act is aimed at building an alternative “capital” of Japan to Tokyo, in case Tokyo suffers a major natural disaster. The law should also help decentralize businesses in Japan. A city interested in serving as a backup capital must meet several conditions, including a minimum population size, business concentration, or an agreement on coordination between the prefectural government and the city government. While some cities, such as Sapporo, Nagoya or Fukuoka, might qualify, Osaka is recognized as the leading candidate.
 
In connection with the Backup Capital Act, JIP has put another issue at the top of its reform agenda for the announced purpose of minimizing government expenditures.  This is the Osaka Capital Initiative, which would integrate the Osaka prefectural government with the Osaka city government. The integration would resemble the governmental system of the Tokyo metropolitan area. Appealing to the competitive sentiment of the people of Osaka against Tokyo, JIP sold the policy as making Osaka another capital of Japan.
 
Controlling the seats of the Osaka prefectural governor and the Osaka city mayor, JIP held two referendums on the Osaka Capital Initiative in 2015 and 2020, but the initiative was rejected by a small margin in both referenda. Although residents of the small cities in the Osaka prefecture supported the idea, those in Osaka city did not, because it seemed to have fewer benefits for them.
 
JIP has been looking for a third chance at the initiative. Their tactic is to connect the Osaka Capital Initiative with the Backup Capital Act, though the party leaders publicly explain that those two concepts are different. But the party has also explained that the Osaka Capital Initiative is a precondition for Osaka to be a backup capital and has declared a third referendum in the spring 2027. JIP’s leader and the governor of Osaka, Hirofumi Yoshimura, announced that he would resign as governor next spring and run again for election as his own successor. He plans to hold the election and the third referendum on the same day on the expectation that the initiative can ride his coattails.
 
Hence JIP’s enthusiasm for enacting Backup Capital Act in the special session of the Diet that closed on July 25. To have the “double voting” in Osaka next spring, the Diet had to pass the Act in this session. In a meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on July 7, Yoshimura reconfirmed that the LDP and JIP would enact the Backup Capital Act in this session and that JIP would leave behind its effort to reduce seats in the Diet.
 
No party other than JIP had any interest in a backup capital. When the chairman of a committee in the Lower House, who was from JIP, unilaterally began discussion of the Backup Capital Bill in late June, the opposition parties boycotted all the discussions. The Diet spent a week normalizing its discussions. Even the LDP was reluctant to pass the backup capital bill within the current session.
 
Takaichi came to the rescue of the bill in the final phase of the Diet session with her personal support. Takaichi was indebted to JIP for its support of the National Flag Vandalism Punishment Act, which had been on her long-time political agenda. That statute was enacted on July 17. In return, Takaichi extended the term of the Diet session for 8 days and worked to pass the backup capital bill.
 
The opposition parties were adamantly opposed to the unilateral procedure used by the LDP and JIP to pass the bill in the Upper House -- where the two parties do not have a majority. Although the opposition parties demanded further discussion of the bill, the chairman of the committee, a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, decided to finish discussion quickly and to take a vote on the bill. However, the chairman accepted a supplemental resolution to the bill that ruled out JIP’s planned double voting on the referendum and governor’s race. With this supplement, the bill was approved by a slight margin, supported by the LDP, JIP, Team Mirai and some independent lawmakers.
 
Yoshimura was not satisfied with the result. Holding votes for the third referendum on the Osaka Capital Initiative and for the Osaka gubernatorial election on the same day next spring is crucial for JIP to gain broad support from the voters. Immediately after the Diet passed Backup Capital Act, Yoshimura reiterated that he still planned to have the double vote next spring. The leader of Democratic Party for the People, Yuichiro Tamaki, accused Yoshimura of a lack of respect for the decisions of the Diet. What happens next spring in Osaka remains to be seen.
 
As seen in his unusually strong push for seat reduction in the House of Representatives, Yoshimura is too focused on his own agenda in Osaka to properly honor the Diet, which, after all, represents the whole interest of the people of Japan. The Osaka Capital Initiative is a typical populist issue to firm up the political base of the party, which is highly concentrated in Osaka. Thus, the Diet spent the last days of the extended session on enhancing JIP’s political fortunes – and those of Takaichi who relies on JIP’s support.

Takaichi’s Legislative Strategy Unites Opposition

Three Reasons for This Diet Session’s Unusual Procedure

By Takuya Nishimura, Senior Fellow, Asia Policy Point
Former editorial writer for the Hokkaido Shimbun
You can find his blog, J Update here.
July 21, 2026
 
The Diet decided to extend the term of the current special session for eight days with approval of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Japan Innovation Party (JIP). Although these leading parties have been trying to pass all the bills submitted by Sanae Takaichi Cabinet before the end of the term set on July 17, the boycott of discussions by the opposition parties made it impossible. The opposition parties accuse Takaichi of mismanaging the Diet. This abnormality was brought about by Takaichi’s arrogant administration of the Diet, JIP’s insistence on its own agenda, and the opposition parties’ unusual unification against leading coalition.
 
Takaichi’s Capriciousness
This is a very unusual session of the Diet. The ordinary session 2026 was convoked on January 23 and ended the same day because Takaichi dissolved the House of Representative to hold a snap election. After the Lower House election on February 8, the Takaichi administration set a special session. Although a special session is ordinarily convoked for a few days to elect a new prime minister, Takaichi set a 150-day term from February 18 to July 17 to discuss the fiscal year 2026 budget and tackle other critical issues. The Diet did not work between January 23 and February 17.
 
During the final weeks in the current session, Takaichi was unwilling to attend the Diet discussion. After opposition parties criticized her for defamation in her LDP presidential campaign last October, Takaichi refused to answer their questions in the Diet. The opposition parties, holding a majority in the Upper House, boycotted the Diet discussion in late June and early July. The leading parties were unable to pass all the bills by July 17, the regular end of the current session.
 
Takaichi prioritized passage of the revised Imperial House Law and the National Flag Vandalism Punishment Act in the final phase of the session. The LDP has not been active in extending the Diet session. Every year, lawmakers get back to their hometowns after the ordinary session to meet their supporters, to reinforce their political base, and to prepare for the next election. Extension of the Diet session will reduce their chances to cultivate their voters in the local districts.
 
The LDP nevertheless submitted a motion to the Diet to extend the term of the current special session for the passage of some important bills. The Diet Law provides that an ordinary session can be extended once and an extraordinary or special session twice. The LDP has a majority in the Lower House and not in the Upper House. If the two chambers of the Diet reach different decisions on an extension, the decision of the Lower House controls.
 
The extension of the current session for eight days was thus approved by the votes of   the LDP-JIP majority coalition in the Lower House. The opposition parties blamed the extension on Takaichi’s mismanagement of the Diet schedule. If she had not dissolved the Lower House, and if she had not refused the discussion on her defamation scandal, the parties would have had enough time to discuss all the bills. It was Takaichi who delayed the schedule.
 
JIP’s Insistence on Its Own Agenda
The opposition parties’ boycott of discussion was based on another reason. The leading coalition unilaterally decided to start discussion on the bills for reducing Lower House seats and for introducing a “backup capital” bill. Discussion on a bill usually starts with an overwhelming consensus among the parties. But in this case, the leading parties ignored the protest of the opposition parties. The two bills are strongly supported by JIP.
 
Established in 2012, the JIP had been a determined opposition party, pushing for political reforms. Forming the leading coalition with LDP led by Takaichi in 2025 changed everything. The JIP needed a cause to join the coalition and decided that reduction of Diet seats would be its top priority. JIP leader and the Governor of Osaka, Hirofumi Yoshimura, labeled the issue “political reform 101.” Yoshimura believed that the seat reduction would receive wide public support because it would lead to a reduction in governmental spending for the Diet.
 
Opposition parties had reason to oppose the bill. The bill includes the reduction of forty-five seats in the proportional districts of the Lower House. That reform of the election system would work against small opposition parties which are heavily dependent on proportional districts. It also did not make good sense for the House to reduce its seats at the initiative of the governor of Osaka. Not only the opposition parties but some lawmakers in the LDP were skeptical about the bill. Takaichi finally decided to postpone the seat reduction bill to the next session.
 
JIP still hopes to enact the Backup Capital Act in the extended term of the current session of the Diet. While the law enables local prefectures and cities to have stronger authority for governance as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government currently possesses, most lawmakers believe that the system of backup capital will help the Osaka Capital Initiative, which JIP has been promoting since its establishment.
 
Opposition parties have criticized JIP’s strong push for the bill, arguing that the law only benefits Osaka. They demand a detailed examination of the bill in the Diet, which requires weeks of discussion. Although the leading coalition passed the bill in the Lower House with the approval of Team Mirai, they have still not secured a majority in the Upper House. The leading parties have not yet decided whether to extend the term of the current session again.
 
If the LDP fails to enact the two bills for seat reduction and a backup capital, the JIP may lose its major cause for staying in the leading coalition with the LDP. Although the merits of leading coalition should be greater than leaving it, the JIP is worried about its political power shrinking, as they are growingly dependent on the LDP’s leadership. Voters in future elections may regard JIP as a supplemental group of LDP. It would be a major concern for the LDP whether the JIP stays or goes.
 
Unusual Unification of Opposition Parties
When the leading coalition unilaterally began discussion over the Lower House seat reduction and the Backup Capital Act, the opposition parties took united action to stop the unilateral procedure in the Diet. They requested impartial treatment of the bills by the leaders in both chambers. The possible crucial impact of seat reduction on small opposition parties made that concerted action possible.
 
The action included a wide range of parties. The highly conservative Sanseito and the far-left Japan Communist Party joined the frontline in protesting capricious management of the Diet by leading coalition. Adding to those two parties, the Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA), the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), and Team Mirai demanded that the chairman (from JIP) of a Lower House committee not start discussion on the seat reduction bill. When the chairman declared that discussion had begun, those opposition parties boycotted the committee.
 
Ironically, JIP’s push for a seat reduction bill unified opposition parties from the right to the left. This unification became a threat to the leading parties, causing them to think which other bills would be blocked by the opposition parties.
 
However, the opposition parties are not completely united against the leading parties. The CRA, DPP and Sanseito voted yes to revisions to the Imperial House Law, while JCP and some others opposed it. The National Flag Vandalism Punishment Act passed the Diet with the approval of DPP and Sanseito, but the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Komeito, JCP and Reiwa Shinsengumi opposed. The coalition of opposition parties is still limited to some specific bills.