The opposition camp’s lack of unity helped the ruling coalition coast to victory in the July 10 Upper House election. But that was not the only reason behind the opposition side’s crushing defeat in single-seat electoral districts.

Overall, opposition candidates won only four of the 32 single-seat districts.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan won 17 seats in the election, a decrease of six from its pre-election strength in the Diet chamber.

“I acknowledge the inadequacy of the opposition camp,” Kenta Izumi, the CDP president, said at a news conference at the party’s headquarters. “I would like to concentrate my efforts on building a political force that will be able to run an administration.”

Izumi took over as CDP leader in late November, vowing to change the image of the party.

He said the CDP would focus on policies and solutions to issues facing Japan instead of just criticizing plans put forward by the ruling camp.

In the election, the CDP campaigned on what it called the three pillars for livelihood security: measures against rising consumer prices; free education; and a steady national security policy.

The party called for a temporary reduction in the consumption tax rate to 5 percent from the current 10 percent to help the public deal with inflation.

But the CDP also could not contain its criticism.

It blasted Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, saying they have failed to take enough measures to halt the rising costs of fuel, food and other daily necessities, or stem the rapid slide of the yen.

The CDP’s campaign slogans included “Kishida inflation” and “Kuroda’s yen depreciation.”

The party’s tactics failed.

Candidates of Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party won in 28 of the 32 electoral districts.

SPLINTERED OPPOSITION

The single-seat constituencies have long held the key in Upper House elections.

In the 2007 Upper House election, the ruling LDP lost 23 of the 29 single-seat districts.

In the 2010 election, the then ruling Democratic Party of Japan lost 21 of the 29 districts.

In both cases, the ruling parties later lost control of government.

In the 2013 Upper House election, held a year after the LDP regained power, the party won 29 of the 31 single-seat districts to solidify its footing in the Diet.

After years of shrinking support and dwindling political relevance, some opposition parties decided to unite behind a single candidate in all single-seat electoral districts to concentrate votes against ruling coalition candidates.

The tactic proved somewhat effective. Opposition parties gained 11 seats in the 2016 Upper House election and 10 seats in the 2019 poll.

In the 2021 Lower House election, the CDP and the Japanese Communist Party cooperated behind single candidates, despite differences in the ideologies between the two parties.

Opponents pounced, criticizing the two parties as collaborating only for electoral purposes and calling them collectively the “Constitutional Communist Party.”

Both the CDP and the JCP fared poorly in that election.

Two other opposition parties, Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) and the Democratic Party for the People, kept their distance from the opposition cooperation and expanded their power in that Lower House election.

In the latest election, Izumi was reluctant to cooperate with the JCP and could not reach an agreement with the DPP on uniting against ruling coalition candidates.

The opposition parties’ campaigns also focused on obtaining votes for the proportional representation segment of the election. That strategy pitted their candidates and parties against each other.

The opposition side rallied behind a unified candidate in just 11 single-seat districts, and won only two of them.

Nippon Ishin fielded a candidate in the Nagano electoral district where a CDP incumbent was running.

The JCP endorsed a candidate in the Oita electoral district against a DPP incumbent who had sided with the government’s budget proposal during the regular Diet session.

The LDP even won in districts where the opposition parties fielded a unified candidate.

The ruling party regained seats it had lost to CDP candidates in Iwate and Niigata prefectures.

In Niigata, Yuko Mori, 66, the CDP’s Upper House secretary-general, was defeated by a rookie candidate of the LDP who was a prefectural assembly member.

Mori is known for pursuing the truth in a variety of issues, including the Moritomo-favoritism scandal.

She lost her bid to serve a fourth term.

It was the first loss for an opposition candidate in the prefecture since 2016, when the number of contested seats for Niigata was reduced to one.

After the election, Mori bowed deeply to her supporters at a hotel in Niigata city.

“I have received much support,” she said. “I’m sad and feel regretful.”