JIP’s Tough Stance on Cutting Seats in Lower House Faces Pushback, Causes Frustration

By Yuta Abe and Takahiro Yamamoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

2:00 JST, December 7, 2025

A bill to cut seats in the House of Representatives submitted to the Diet by the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party on Friday is facing increasing pushback from opposition parties and causing frustration among LDP members.

The bill includes a stipulation that 45 seats will automatically be cut if ruling and opposition parties fail to finalize relevant details by a deadline, reflecting a hard-line stance of the JIP.

Showing determination

Yasuto Urano, acting head of the JIP’s Election Strategy Headquarters, explained why the parties included the stipulation. “It’s important to reach a conclusion without delaying debate,” he told reporters after the bill was submitted.

Urano indicated that parties would naturally be hesitant about a plan to reduce the number of seats, as such a move would affect the status of lawmakers. The deadline was therefore set to realize the reform, which requires sacrifices to be made.

According to the bill, if no conclusion has been reached one year after the law takes effect, 45 seats — 25 in single-seat constituencies and 20 in the proportional representation — will automatically be cut.

Some JIP members have argued that the negotiations between ruling bloc and opposition parts should develop into a discussion on election system reform and eventually a multiple-seat constituency system should be revived.

“We want to show that we are determined to reform the electoral system [by setting a deadline],” said a senior JIP member.

Withdrawal from coalition suggested

The original intention of the bill was to reduce the number of lower house seats by 10% from the current 465.

However, the more the discussions between the two parties advanced, the more the bill came to be focused on the procedure for achieving the reduction. Consequently, the JIP began to take a more hard-line stance.

“[The bill] should include a stipulation to cut 50 seats in the proportional representation a year later if no agreement is reached,” JIP leader Hirofumi Yoshimura, who also serves as Osaka governor, said.

The LDP leadership was initially cautious about the “automatic reduction” plan but eventually relented, as the JIP signaled firmly that it would leave the coalition if the demand was not met.

“In the end, the LDP approved the bill with consideration for the need to resolve the problems in front of us for the continuation of the coalition government,” Katsunobu Kato, who leads the LDP’s Headquarters for Political System Reform, told reporters on Friday.

In deciding how many seats to cut, the LDP took into consideration the opinions of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, who oppose reducing seats only in the proportional representation system.

Objections within LDP, opposition parties

Dissatisfaction lingers in the LDP.

“Instead of making a majority decision, I want the party to hold unreserved negotiations with other parties,” said one LDP member at a meeting of the party’s General Council on Friday.

The move to include the automatic cut met strong objections from opposition parties.

“It’s too reckless and unreasonable,” said CDPJ leader Yoshihiko Noda.

At a news conference on Friday, Komeito head Tetsuo Saito said: “Deciding on a rule that concerns the very foundation of democracy requires broad party consensus. [The move] denies the principle of careful deliberation.”

Opposition parties plan to discuss how to deal with the matter at a meeting of Diet affairs committee heads on Monday.

The ruling parties hope to pass the bill by the end of the current Diet session on Dec. 17. However, the CDPJ and other opposition parties intend to block the move by prolonging Diet deliberations.

The JIP is desperate to pass the bill, with party coleader Fumitake Fujita calling on Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya to support the bill at a meeting on Thursday.