Japan Prime Minister Plans Council to Debate Social Welfare; Intends to Invite Ruling, Opposition Parties to Participate

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:55 JST, June 29, 2025

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plans to establish a new council to discuss social welfare reform after the House of Councillors election on July 20, according to senior government officials.

Ishiba is considering calling on both the ruling and opposition parties to participate, to enable suprapartisan discussion about future visions for a wide range of fields, including medical care and public pensions.

With the decline in new births accelerating at a faster pace than predicted — the number has fallen below 700,000 for the first time — the new council will strive for future systems that are sustainable and respond to changes in the social situation.

The first meeting of the council will be held around September at the earliest.

During this year’s ordinary Diet session, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito held three-party debates about social welfare reform with the opposition Japan Innovation Party. The new council will ask other political parties to participate in discussions as well.

Ishiba plans to launch the council after the upper house election, as he wants to minimize confrontation between the ruling and opposition camps and tackle the issue with cooperation across party lines.

“It’s necessary to have a platform for debate [about social welfare] in which a wider range of members of the public can participate, while keeping out the strategic interests of political parties,” Ishiba said in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun on Friday.

The council also plans to listen to the opinions of people working in social welfare services and those who use those services, including the fields of medical care, nursing care and childrearing assistance.

It will also discuss how to secure funding for social welfare programs, including a review of burden-sharing in the premiums for social insurance schemes, so that the net incomes of the working generations can be increased.

In past LDP presidential elections, Ishiba pledged to establish a national council to discuss social welfare reform, and to let a wide range of members of the public debate the issue.