- PM Ishiba Won Runoff Election To Be The 103rd Prime Minister
As previously reported, the ruling parties—the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito—suffered a major defeat in the October 27 House of Representatives general election, losing the majority they had maintained in the House.
On November 12, a special session of the Diet was convened, and a prime ministerial election was held, resulting in LDP President Shigeru Ishiba being elected as Japan’s 103rd Prime Minister.
In the first round of voting, however, Prime Minister Ishiba failed to secure a majority, necessitating a runoff against Constitutional Democratic Party leader Yoshihiko Noda, where Ishiba ultimately won the nomination.
Although Noda had tried to consolidate votes from opposition parties, including Nippon Ishin no Kai and the Democratic Party for the People, to surpass the LDP and Komeito votes, opposition parties—other than the Communist Party—wrote their own party leaders’ names on the ballot in the runoff, resulting in 84 invalid votes and securing Ishiba’s victory.
On the same day, Prime Minister Ishiba inaugurated his second cabinet, retaining all ministers except for the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, who lost their seats in the election.
As a minority ruling party cabinet, Prime Minister Ishiba now faces a challenging political environment.
On November 15, Prime Minister Ishiba will participate in the APEC Summit in Peru, followed by the G20 Summit in Brazil, where he is expected to hold individual meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
According to media reports, Ishiba may also stopover in the United States on his return from South America to meet with President-elect Donald Trump.
- PM Ishiba Gained A Higher Approval Rating Thanks To The Hope For Partial Coalition
According to a public opinion poll conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun from November 11 to 12 regarding the second Ishiba Cabinet, which was inaugurated on November 11, the Cabinet's approval rating rose by 9 points to 43% compared to the poll conducted immediately after the general election on October 28-29.
The disapproval rating also dropped by 9 points to 42%.
On the other hand, regarding Prime Minister Ishiba's leadership, the outlook was pessimistic, with 56% of respondents believing that the Prime Minister would not be able to demonstrate leadership, while only 31% thought he could.
Additionally, 81% of respondents answered that they did not think the issue of "money and politics" involving factions within the LDP would be resolved.
Regarding the proposal by the Democratic Party for the People to form a partial coalition with the ruling parties to achieve policies such as raising the "1.03 million yen barrier," which imposes income tax on those earning over 1.03 million yen annually, 66% were in favor, significantly exceeding the 21% who were opposed.
The party support rates showed LDP increasing by 5 points to 30%, while the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan decreased by 3 points to 11%.
3. Japan’s Ministry Of Defense To Develop New Radar To Counter Hypersonic Weapons
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s Ministry of Defense’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency aims to establish innovative technology for a new radar system by the fiscal year 2029.
This project, with a budget of approximately 3 billion yen, seeks to enhance Japan's response capabilities against "hypersonic weapons"—such as hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) and hypersonic cruise missiles (HCMs)—which are more challenging to intercept than conventional ballistic missiles.
This initiative is prompted by the development and deployment of HGVs and HCMs by neighboring countries like Russia, China, and North Korea, ahead of the United States.
The new radar system will incorporate cutting-edge semiconductors to improve data processing capabilities, enabling it to detect, track, and accurately guide intercept missiles to targets at greater distances than current radar systems.
It will also bolster Japan's capacity to respond to "saturation attacks."
While Japan has already committed to co-developing a new intercept missile with the United States for Aegis destroyers as a countermeasure against hypersonic weapons, the development of this new radar will proceed in parallel.
4. NRA Rejected Application For The Restart Of Tsuruga Unit 2 Nuclear Power Plant
In the previous Japan Digest, we reported on the news of the planned restart of Tohoku Electric Power’s Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2.
This week, however, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) decided not to permit the restart of Japan Atomic Power’s Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2, located in Fukui Prefecture.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, this marks the first “rejection” issued by the NRA since its establishment in the year following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011.
The key points of the NRA’s review of Japan Atomic Power’s application for the restart of Tsuruga Unit 2 focused on the “K fault,” located approximately 300 meters north of the reactor building.
The review addressed two main concerns: (1) whether the K fault is an active fault, and (2) whether it extends directly beneath the reactor building.
Japan Atomic Power argued, based on excavation surveys, that the K fault is not an active fault and does not extend beneath the reactor building.
However, the NRA concluded that it could not rule out the fault’s potential activity and continuity, thus rejecting the application for the restart.