LDP, Komeito, CDPJ to Agree to Revise Pension Reform Bills; LDP to Accept Opposition’s Request Again

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:48 JST, May 24, 2025

The Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan are expected to agree to revise pension reform-related bills soon, according to sources.

The ruling coalition has decided to accept a proposal presented by the CDPJ to boost the basic pension program, which is open to all people including those who do not work for a company. With this move, the pension reform bills are likely to pass the House of Representatives by the end of the month and be enacted during the current Diet session.

The LDP leadership will begin necessary intra-party procedures. Even senior LDP members in the House of Councillors who initially opposed the increase have agreed with the party’s move.

The bills will stipulate that measures to boost the basic pension program will be implemented if a financial review, to be conducted in 2029, indicates a significant decline in the basic pension benefit level.

The bills also specify that the government will introduce measures to temporarily alleviate the reduction in payments in the employees’ pension program since reserves from the employees’ pension program will be utilized to boost the basic pension program.

The government initially considered including the basic pension raising measures in its pension reform-related bills with the aim of maintaining a level of pension benefits for all pension recipients in a long-run.

However, it submitted reform bills without the measures to the Diet as there were strong concerns within the LDP about possibly increasing the burden on the national treasury.

The basic pension raising measures could require an additional ¥2 trillion annually from national treasury in funding due to a possible increase in the level of pension benefits necessary for all pension recipients. This is because half of the national pension program is covered by national funds. A temporary reduction in payments to employees’ pension programs were also a cause of concern.

CDPJ leader Yoshihiko Noda criticized the bills without the measures by comparing it to an anpan (buns filled with sweet bean paste) without the bean paste.