Japan Innovation Party Ponders Coalition with LDP, Komeito; Seeks to Realize Osaka ‘Secondary Capital’ Initiative

By Takahiro Yamamoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

1:00 JST, July 28, 2025

Support is growing within the Japan Innovation Party for the prospect of forming a coalition with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito.

The JIP’s aim in joining a coalition government would be to realize the idea of making Osaka Prefecture a “secondary capital” that would serve as alternative to Tokyo, thereby helping the party revitalize its flagging popularity.

Support for joining the coalition is largely emerging from Osaka, the party’s home turf. JIP leader Hirofumi Yoshimura, who is also the governor of Osaka Prefecture, said Tuesday: “It’s important to establish a secondary capital, given the need to correct the ‘one-city dominance’ of Tokyo and handle national crisis management and economic growth.”

“We’ll draft bills and present them to the ruling parties,” said Yoshimura, who was speaking at a prefectural government building.

JIP founder and former Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said on a TV program last Monday, “I hope the party will join the coalition and realize the secondary capital initiative.”

Likewise, deputy party leader Hideyuki Yokoyama, the mayor of Osaka, said Friday, “If a big goal can be realized, it is only natural to consider all options.”

The secondary capital initiative is aimed at creating a city that would take over the functions of the nation’s capital in case of a major disaster or other grave event, and have economic power second only to Tokyo. Headquartered in Osaka, the JIP seeks to link this to the realization of the “Osaka metropolis” initiative, which has been the party’s flagship policy since its founding.

The LDP and Komeito suffered a crushing defeat in the latest House of Councillors election, losing their majority in the upper house. As the result, the coalition parties are now a minority in both the House of Representatives and the upper house. To escape this tough situation, the LDP and Komeito coalition need to expand their coalition framework, which may allow the JIP to realize its long-held goal.

The JIP also performed poorly outside the Kansai region in the upper house election. It gained about 4.38 million votes in the proportional representation segment, nearly half the number it secured in the 2022 upper house election.

Compared to the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito, which made significant gains in the election, the JIP has lost its presence among opposition parties. The party is seeking a way to recover its strength; a JIP member in the Osaka Prefectural Assembly said, “Having the power, as part of the government, to lead the second capital and metropolis initiatives would be significant.”

The JIP shares many common policy goals with the LDP and is “a partner that would be easy to form a coalition with” alongside the DPFP, a Cabinet minister said. Even within Komeito, which lost to the JIP in all four single-seat constituencies it contested in last year’s lower house election, voices have started to emerge in support of the JIP joining the coalition.

However, many members of the JIP believe the administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also the president of the LDP, will end soon and it would not be ideal to cooperate with the current coalition.

“[Ishiba’s] momentum is low and his administration will soon hit a dead end,” a senior JIP member said. If the party joins hands with the LDP and Komeito, the JIP’s support rate could fall. “At this point in time, we’re not considering a coalition with the LDP,” Yoshimura said.

For now, the JIP intends to wait and see who will succeed Ishiba as LDP president, a key issue for ruling party. With Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in mind as the top candidate to head the LDP, a senior JIP member said, “We could possibly join the coalition, if a reform-minded person become the next LDP president.”