Photo/Illutration Ichiro Matsui, right, leader of Nippon Ishin, speaks on July 10 at a news conference in Osaka city on the results of the Upper House election held that day, accompanied by the party's deputy, Hirofumi Yoshimura. (Nobuhiro Shirai)

OSAKA--Although it increased its pre-election strength, Osaka-based Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) failed to achieve its goal of becoming a national party in the Upper House election on July 10.

The opposition party won 12 seats to increase its number of seats in the chamber to 21, compared to the 15 it held beforehand. However, it could not win one in the Tokyo or Kyoto electoral districts, which it deemed as gateways to expanding its reach nationally.

After learning of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's strong showing, Ichiro Matsui, the party’s leader and Osaka city mayor, said at a news conference on July 10, “We were not good enough. I have to accept our defeat.”

During the campaign, the party stressed its flagship pledge “reform with pain” and also stressed its record in Osaka, such as investment in education.

Nippon Ishin fielded 20 candidates in 19 election districts, in addition to 26 candidates in the proportional representation constituency.

Twenty-six is almost twice as many candidates as it fielded in the proportional representation constituency in the previous Upper House election in 2019, but it hoped to win more votes than the last time.

The party’s strategy was to expand support by including among its candidates a well-known former athlete or a singer, as well as a former politician from whom the party could expect to bring a support base.

Matsui, and Hirofumi Yoshimura, deputy head of the party and the governor of Osaka, concentrated on Tokyo and Kyoto, where close contests were expected, when they joined the campaign.

During the campaign, the party stressed its vision for Japan and national politics, with hopes of becoming a national party.

Nippon Ishin proposed a discussion on the idea of "sharing" in the possession of nuclear weapons in its security policy, in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

When party leaders and candidates campaigned in the streets, they emphasized that Japan should start a discussion on nuclear sharing, without regarding it as taboo, to strengthen Japan’s defense capability.

The party achieved its target of winning the largest number of votes among opposition parties in the proportional representation constituency by gaining more votes than the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Matsui also announced at the news conference on July 10 that he would step down as Nippon Ishin leader, which he had previously planned. 

“As I have already said, I will leave, once for all,” he said, adding, “I will not appoint my successor.”

The party will hold its first leadership election to select a new leader. 

(This article was written by Taro Kotegawa, Atsushi Kawada and Tomomi Terasawa.)

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