Upper House Election: Party Heads, Senior Figures Get Up to Speed on 2nd Day of Upper House Campaigning; High Prices a Key Topic in Speeches

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:05 JST, July 4, 2025

Leaders and other senior members of both ruling and opposition parties appealed for voters’ support in speeches across the nation Friday, as they got up to speed in the second day of campaigning for the July 20 House of Councillors election.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, visited a farmers’ market in Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture, on Friday and held talks with farmers and others involved in the agriculture industry.

On the issue of soaring rice prices, Ishiba said, “The key is to increase production,” expressing his intention to make a structural change in agriculture. He also stressed the need to “make the distribution process transparent” and vowed to protect the nation’s food and agriculture.

Komeito Secretary General Makoto Nishida gave a speech in front of a commercial facility in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture.

Nishida spoke about Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito having asked Ishiba to reconsider raising the ceiling for patients’ out-of-pocket payments in the high-cost medical expense benefit program, saying, “Because Komeito is in the ruling coalition, this issue is being reconsidered.”

In Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Junya Ogawa said, “This upper house election will be an election for voters to select the governing party on which the fate of the nation will rest.”

Touting the party’s pledge to reduce the consumption tax rate on foodstuff to 0% for a year in principle, Ogawa said, “We will make every effort to address high prices” in his speech in front of JR Koriyama Station.

Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura, who is also Osaka governor, gave a speech in front of JR Ashiya Station in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture.

“We must change the system so that people can receive medical care and pensions without concern. We need to eliminate waste,” he said, proposing a reduction in social insurance premiums.

Japanese Communist Party head Tomoko Tamura delivered speeches in Osaka among other locations, calling for measures to combat high prices, such as lowering the consumption tax rate.

Motohisa Furukawa, acting representative of the Democratic Party for the People appealed for voters’ support in front of JR Motoyawata Station in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, saying, “We are asking you to entrust us with your hopes for increases in your take-home pay that exceed the rise in prices.”

Reiwa Shinsengumi head Taro Yamamoto delivered a speech in front of high-traffic train station in Tokyo.

Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya appealed for support in front of major stations in Hiroshima and Okayama.