Japan: Political Developments and Data in 2021
A Reversal of Electoral Fortunes for the Liberal Democratic Party
Abstract
The year 2021 saw the resignation of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga after just a year in office, following steep declines in his government's approval ratings due to public dissatisfaction with aspects of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Tokyo Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. His successor, former Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida, was nonetheless able to limit the ruling party's losses in a general election in late October, preventing the left-wing opposition parties from making any advances. The centre-right Japan Innovation Party/Nippon Ishin no Kai, however, gained 30 seats to become the third-largest party in the Diet, consolidating its political grip on the region surrounding Japan's second-largest city, Osaka.
