Upper House Election: Yomiuri Analysis: Social Media Buzz on Consumption Tax, Cash Handouts, Foreign Nationals Dominates Upper House Election Discussion

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:43 JST, July 7, 2025

Social media interest in policies and campaign issues for the upcoming House of Councillors election is clustering around household-budget topics such as “consumption tax” and “cash handouts,” a Yomiuri Shimbun analysis of X posts showed. Policies concerning foreign nationals are likewise drawing significant attention.

Using Meltwater’s social-media analytics tool, the newspaper examined the posts, including reposts, from June 26 — one week before the official campaign period — through Saturday. It tracked the volume of posts containing the term “House of Councillors election” in various Japanese forms plus each of the ten key words often cited in party manifestos or debates: consumption tax, foreign nationals, cash handouts, rising prices, tariffs, child-rearing, rice, social-insurance premiums, national security, and hidden funds.

“Consumption tax” generated the highest volume of posts and reposts. Mentions have risen roughly steadily since before the campaign began, reaching roughly 53,000 on Saturday. Widely shared messages include criticism of the Liberal Democratic Party for framing the tax as an “essential funding source for social security,” as well as amplifications of opposition leaders’ calls for abolition or tax cuts.

Interest in the ruling coalition’s proposal for direct cash handouts and concern over rising prices of food and other essentials is also trending upward. Taken together with consumption tax chatter, the data point to strong voter concern over pocketbook issues.

Alongside taxes and benefits, “foreign nationals” is another high-volume term, fluctuating between 20,000 and 40,000 posts around the start of official campaigning. Highly shared posts frequently argue that land purchases or immigration by foreigners “should be restricted,” while others express alarm at such views.

Mentions of “tariffs,” a topic linked to negotiations with the U.S. administration, also climbed to around 10,000 near the campaign kickoff. By contrast, the remaining five keywords — child-rearing, rice, social-insurance premiums, national security, and hidden funds — each drew only a few thousand.