Japan’s House of Councillors Election and Its Impacts on Japanese Politics

Abstract

On the morning of July 20, 2025, Japanese voters went to the polls to re-elect half of
the seats in the Japanese House of Councillors (124/248 seats). This is the most important and
prominent political event in Japan in recent times. The election results revealed a major defeat for
the ruling coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Komeito Party, which
won only 47/124 seats, bringing their total to 122 out of 248 in the House of Councillors, falling
short of a majority. This outcome has plunged Japanese politics into a very precarious situation,
with the risk of political gridlock because the ruling coalition does not hold a majority in either
houses of the Japanese Parliament. Within the scope of this paper, the author mentions the content
of the election of the Japanese House of Councillors on July 20, 2025 with analysis and
assessment of its impact on Japanese politics.