Nippon Ishin ‘Still Struggling Outside Kansai’; Party is looking at a new strategy for next elections for the House of Commons

Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) candidates were defeated in the House of Representatives midterm elections on Sunday. The party fielded candidates in Tokyo Constituency No. 15 and Nagasaki Constituency No. 3.

Party chief Nobuyuki Baba said at a press conference in Osaka on Sunday evening: “The results revealed the true strength of our party. It is still difficult for us to win in a single-seat constituency outside Kansai region.”

Nippon Ishin wanted to expand his influence in areas outside Kansai, the party’s power base, and give himself a boost toward his goal of taking on the role of opposition party in the next Lower House elections. However, it failed to attract voters who criticized the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

During the election campaign, the party tried to appeal to conservative voters by calling for political reforms and constitutional revision. It stepped up criticism of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and questioned its cooperation with the Japanese Communist Party in the elections.

After the campaign started, Baba criticized the CDPJ’s response to discussions about political reform: “The CDPJ is not going to do anything that is detrimental to them. We’re going to crush it.”

But in Tokyo Constituency No. 15, the party’s new candidate, who came third in the 2021 primary election, lost to the CDPJ candidate. Similarly, in Nagasaki Constituency No. 3, where the party faced the CDPJ candidate, the Nippon Ishin candidate lost by a wide margin, once again exposing the party’s fragile regional organization.

The party has been promoting the Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025, but is now receiving harsh criticism over the event’s rising construction costs.

“We are currently facing adversity. We need to reconsider our strategy heading into the next House of Commons elections,” said a party official.