Politics & Government

375 Plan to Run in Summer’s House of Councillors Election; LDP, Komeito Aim to Maintain Upper House Majority

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
A poster display board for the House of Councillors in 2022.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, June 3, 2025

A total of 375 people were planning to run in the 27th House of Councillors election this summer as of June 2, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun tally.

Campaigning is expected to officially start on July 3, with voting to be held on July 20. The focus will be on whether the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, which are only a ruling minority in the House of Representatives, can maintain their majority in the upper house.

Of the 248 seats that make up the upper house, a total of 125 seats will be up for grabs. This includes 124 seats up for normally scheduled election — 74 constituency seats and 50 proportional representation seats — and one seat to fill a vacancy in a Tokyo electoral constituency.

The number of candidates by political party is as follows: 75 from the LDP, 15 from Komeito, 41 from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, 23 from the Japan Innovation Party, 34 from the Japanese Communist Party, 41 from the Democratic Party for the People and 11 from Reiwa Shinsengumi. Those running in the constituency elections totaled 264, while the number in the proportional elections totaled 107.

According to Yomiuri Shimbun tallies conducted about a month before previous elections, 353 people had planned to run for the House of Councillors in 2022 and 261 in 2019.

Currently, the ruling parties have 75 seats that are not up for grabs, and the LDP and Komeito hope to win at least 50 seats in the upcoming election to take their total above 125 and maintain their majority. Some within the ruling party have said that the party should aim for 63 seats, a majority of the seats up for grabs.

Opposition parties are seeking to increase their number of seats in the upper house against the backdrop of a slump in support for the Ishiba Cabinet. The leading opposition party, the CDPJ, is hoping to force the ruling parties to lose their majority.

At present, however, the opposition parties are fielding their own candidates in many constituencies, and no progress has been made in coordinating their efforts.