Photo/Illutration Upper House member Hiroe Makiyama of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan meets with reporters April 7 after an Upper House plenary session. (Shohei Sasagawa)

Three opposition lawmakers inexplicably voted for a measure their parties vehemently opposed.

The Upper House Judicial Affairs Committee met April 6 to vote on legislation designed to reduce the number of assistant judges and court staff.

When a show of hands was called, three members of the caucus led by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan raised their hands in support of the bill.

The one who raised her hand was Hiroe Makiyama, who serves as shadow justice minister in the CDP’s “next Cabinet.” The two others were the CDP’s Taiga Ishikawa and Mizuho Fukushima of the Social Democratic Party. 

The Upper House plenary session on April 7 held a vote on the matter. But because the three CDP caucus members had voted in favor in committee, they were obliged to excuse themselves from the plenary session and abstain while other CDP lawmakers voted against the measure.

After the plenary session, Makiyama met with reporters and said about her faux pas the previous day: “I unexpectedly raised my hand. I will be more careful in the future.”

A CDP source said the other two committee members likely followed Makiyama’s lead and raised their hands without thinking.

But Masaaki Taniai, the secretary-general of the Komeito Upper House caucus, heaped derision on the three CDP caucus members.

“It showed a total lack of seriousness and should never have happened,” he said at an April 7 party meeting. “It is not a matter that can be settled by simply being more careful (in the future).”

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