Japan’s upper house election on Sunday could weaken Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s authority, with public frustration over inflation and immigration shifting support toward opposition parties.
Japanese voters are casting ballots in a closely watched upper house election that could reshape the country’s political landscape and shake Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s control of government.
With half of the 248-seat upper house at stake, opinion polls indicate that Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito risk falling short of the 50 seats needed to maintain a majority.
Public anger over rising living costs and immigration has fuelled support for smaller opposition parties advocating tax cuts and increased public spending. Among them is the nationalist Sanseito party, which is campaigning against foreign investment and gender equality reforms.
Analysts warn that a weak showing for the coalition could erode investor confidence in the world’s fourth-largest economy and complicate urgent trade talks with the United States. Japan faces an August 1 deadline to finalise a deal or face tariffs in its largest export market.
These potential levies could further burden the economy, already strained by inflation that has seen staples such as rice nearly double in price over the past year.
While the LDP has resisted calls for sweeping tax cuts, the opposition is pressing for more aggressive fiscal support to ease the cost-of-living crisis. Ishiba’s government has instead emphasised fiscal discipline to calm the volatile government bond market.
This vote follows the LDP’s poor performance in the October lower house election, its worst in 15 years, which cost it a majority and increased Ishiba’s exposure to no-confidence motions.
A fragmented result could force Ishiba to make policy concessions or step aside for new leadership, depending on coalition negotiations.
Voting concludes at 8 p.m. local time, with media projections expected shortly after, based on exit poll data.
Americans say they have not been told clearly why U.S. forces are massing near Venezuela and remain wary of any move toward military action, even as f...
Russia says several “unfriendly” countries approached its delegation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg with concrete proposals for economic cooper...
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says he will urge Vladimir Putin to revive the Black Sea grain deal and discuss fresh efforts to end the war in Ukrai...
Israel killed Hezbollah’s top military official in a strike on a southern Beirut suburb, the Israeli military said, shattering a fragile truce that ...
Ukrainian drones hit the Shatura heat and power station in the Moscow region on Sunday (23 November), causing a major fire and cutting heating for tho...
An off-the-cuff remark by new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that triggered Japan's biggest bust-up in years with powerful neighbour China was not meant to signal a new hardline stance.
Japan’s tourism sector is bracing for heavy economic fallout after China warned its citizens against visiting, setting off a wave of cancellations that analysts estimate could cost the economy more than $14.23 billion a year.
A fire ripped through more than 170 buildings and killed one person in a southern Japanese coastal city on Wednesday, with military and firefighting helicopters scrambling to extinguish the country's largest urban blaze in almost half a century.
As bear encounters climb to unprecedented levels across Japan, officials in Gifu Prefecture have turned to an unusual line of defence: drones that bark like dogs and fire small firecrackers to scare the animals away.
The United States is preparing to launch a new round of Venezuela-related operations in the coming days, as President Donald Trump’s administration intensifies efforts to pressure President Nicolás Maduro’s government and targets what it calls Venezuela’s role in the regional drug trade.
Air traffic at Eindhoven Airport in the southern Netherlands was suspended on Saturday evening after multiple drones were sighted near the facility, prompting the deployment of counter-drone systems and raising fresh alarm over airspace security in Europe.
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will soon speak with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, amid speculation that the U.S. could launch an attack on the Latin American nation.
U.S. President Donald Trump is meeting New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House to discuss housing, food security, and other affordability issues facing the city.
Several international airlines have suspended flights from Venezuela after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned of heightened military activity and deteriorating security conditions in the country’s airspace.
Americans say they have not been told clearly why U.S. forces are massing near Venezuela and remain wary of any move toward military action, even as frustration over prices and inflation drags President Donald Trump’s ratings to new lows.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says he will urge Vladimir Putin to revive the Black Sea grain deal and discuss fresh efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian drones hit the Shatura heat and power station in the Moscow region on Sunday (23 November), causing a major fire and cutting heating for thousands.
Voters in Bosnia’s Serb Republic cast ballots for a new president in a snap election on Sunday (23 November), called after former leader Milorad Dodik was removed and barred from politics.
The Amazon River’s future is increasingly defined by the condition of the wider Amazon Basin, a forest system that anchors the river’s rainfall, biodiversity and hydrological balance. Scientists warn the relationship has entered a fragile phase.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment