Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, left in the front row, and other lawmakers bow after the passage of the 2025 budget bill at the Upper House Budget Committee on March 31. (Takeshi Iwashita)

The 115.1978 trillion yen ($767.66 billion) budget was enacted by the Diet on the final day of fiscal 2024.

This is the first time under the current Constitution that a budget bill amended by the Upper House has been enacted.

In a hung parliament, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, have made repeated revisions to the budget bill in both chambers of the Diet, accommodating demands from the opposition parties to ensure passage. 

In the Lower House, the bill was amended to include free high school tuition, among other measures, based on an agreement with Ishin.

Subsequently, the Upper House made further revisions to halt a disputed proposal to raise the monthly out-of-pocket cap for patients undergoing expensive medical treatments.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Democratic Party for the People, the Japanese Communist Party and Reiwa Shinsengumi all voted against the budget bill.

Last week, the committee unanimously decided to summon Lower House lawmaker Hiroshige Seko to explain himself in response to the LDP’s slush fund scandal, of which he is accused of being a part.

Seko’s testimony was a condition set by the opposition parties for the budget bill vote.

Obeying the summons is voluntary. Seko, who left the LDP following the scandal, has not decided whether he will testify before the committee.

He stated on March 29 that he would decide after consulting with LDP members in the Lower House.

(Mika Kuniyoshi also contributed to this article.)

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