JIP Open to Coalition Talks After LDP Race, Says Co-Leader Fujita

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:42 JST, September 26, 2025

Fumitake Fujita, the Japan Innovation Party’s co-head, said Thursday that if a new Liberal Democratic Party president were to approach them about joining the government, “it is only natural to sit at the negotiating table.” He made the comment to The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Within the JIP, some are calling for the party to join the ruling bloc so they can realize their “second capital” initiative, which entails setting up a backup capital in case of disasters in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Referring to the debates by LDP presidential candidates, Fujita noted, “Given that neither the ruling nor the major opposition parties hold a majority, almost every candidate is exploring the possibility of expanding the coalition.”

On Thursday, Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the LDP, and Takashi Endo, chair of the JIP’s Diet Affairs Committee, met at the Diet building. They discussed such issues as integrated reform of social security and taxes, as well as measures to counter inflation in place of the LDP’s upper house election pledge of ¥20,000 in cash handouts per person. Tetsushi Sakamoto, chair of the LDP’s Diet Affairs Committee, also attended the meeting.