Editorial

16:42 JST, July 3, 2025

There is no end to the challenges of domestic politics, such as soaring prices and an aging society with a low birth rate. In the international community, order, including that in the free trade system, is in danger of collapse.

How will Japan deal with these internal and external challenges and open up new prospects? The ruling and opposition parties must clearly present the course the country should take.

Campaigning for the 27th House of Councillors election officially kicks off today. A total of 125 seats will be up for grabs — 124 of which are held by members whose terms are set to end and one seat to fill a vacancy in the Tokyo constituency.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat in the June Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, which was positioned as a prelude to the upper house election. The support ratings for the LDP are also at extremely low levels.

Upper house elections are essentially considered a midterm assessment of the current administration and cannot be said to be elections in which a new administration is chosen. However, if the LDP and Komeito, which are the minority ruling parties in the House of Representatives, were to lose their majority in the upper house as well, the political situation might become fluid, leading to such changes as a reshuffling of the coalition government.

In this upper house election, a major point of contention is the Japan-U.S. relationship. Regarding tariff negotiations, U.S.........

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