OSAKA – The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its ally, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), are competing against each other in all 19 single-seat constituencies of Osaka Prefecture in Sunday’s general election, the first to be held since the two formed their coalition last October.
In the Osaka No. 5 district, which covers the northwestern part of the city of Osaka, the roughly 66,000 people who voted for a candidate from Komeito, the LDP’s former coalition partner, in the previous Lower House election in October 2024 may determine the outcome this time.
Osaka Prefecture is a stronghold of the JIP — also known as Nippon Ishin no Kai — which has its headquarters in the prefectural capital.
“We support the LDP but we may reject it,” JIP candidate Satoshi Umemura said in a speech in the city of Osaka on Jan. 27, the first day of official campaigning.
“Anyway, the JIP presses the gas pedal for the people,” said Umemura, 50, the incumbent for the No. 5 constituency seat. He is a native of Osaka Prefecture.
Umemura, the JIP’s tax policy chief, promoted the party’s pledges of lowering the consumption tax on food to zero and reducing social security premiums, and touted the ruling bloc’s ability to realize policies.
In the October 2024 general election, the JIP won all Osaka Prefecture constituencies. But the party is facing headwinds this time after JIP members in some regional assemblies were found to have fraudulently reduced their public health insurance premium payments.
The party, which promoted the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, is also under fire over unpaid construction costs for some overseas pavilions for the event.
In addition, JIP leader Hirofumi Yoshimura’s decision to step down as Osaka governor and hold a double election for the posts of Osaka governor and mayor on the same day as the general election is creating backlash among voters.
Yoshimura has set the JIP’s plan for transforming Osaka Prefecture into a metropolis as a major issue in the two regional races, although the initiative was rejected twice in past local referendums. Umemura is not actively mentioning the local realignment project in his campaign speeches.
A woman who refused to accept a campaign leaflet from Umemura’s camp while he was delivering a speech showed no interest in the metropolis plan. “It’s already finished.”
Former LDP lawmaker Mio Sugita, 58, who is running in the Osaka No. 5 constituency on an LDP ticket, touts her closeness to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the head of the party, in her campaign speeches, saying, “I’m in the Takaichi faction” and “Don’t stop the advance of the Takaichi LDP.”
Sugita backed Takaichi when the latter ran for the LDP presidency in…