Nippon Ishin no Kai’s hopes of becoming Japan’s largest opposition party after the next general election took a hit after last month’s losses in two midterm elections and a mayoral campaign in its home base of Osaka.
With speculation that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will soon call snap elections, the party is still struggling to distinguish itself among voters as a viable national opposition force outside Osaka and the wider Kansai region.
Next year’s Expo in Osaka and associated need for financial support and cooperation from the central government could also make it difficult for Nippon Ishin candidates to criticize the ruling Liberal Democratic Party too harshly.
