Upper House Election: Japan’s 3 Major Business Groups Respond to Election Results, Urging Stability and Focus on Tariffs

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, July 22, 2025

The leaders of three major business groups, speaking after the ruling bloc was routed in the House of Councillors election, have called for a stable political arrangement and forward motion on tariff talks.

Yoshinobu Tsutsui, the chairman of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), described the ruling bloc’s failure to secure a majority in the house as “an expression of a critical public.”

After mentioning the urgent need to tackle high prices, he added: “[The ruling parties] need to advance important policies through strong leadership. I sincerely hope that there will be a stable political arrangement, with the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito at its center.”

Takeshi Niinami, the chairperson of Japan Association of Corporate Executives, assessed the reasons for the ruling bloc’s poor showing. “They failed to present viable economic measures for such issues as high prices and tariffs from the United States, which raised public dissatisfaction with how they have run the government,” he said.

Niinami added that, right now, the most import issue is negotiating tariffs with the United States.

“They should swiftly review their negotiation policy, and without wasting any of the time left, negotiate with the United States,” he said.

Ken Kobayashi, the chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “There is no avoiding fluidity in the political situation, but without political stability, we can’t expect to see continuous economic growth.”

“The ruling coalition should face directly the public’s opinion and build a new political framework that can win trust both at home and abroad,” he argued.