Japan's Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference at the party headquarters in Tokyo on Nov 1, 2021. (RODRIGO REYES MARIN / POOL PHOTO VIA AP)
TOKYO – Japan concluded its 150-day regular parliamentary session Wednesday, with the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida deciding amid political and party headwinds an upper house election will be held on July 10.
Official campaigning ahead of the election will kick off on June 22, government officials said, with the focus of the election race likely to be centered around soaring prices and measures for economic growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other points of focus for the triennial campaign are likely to include international and regional diplomatic issues, as well as geopolitical affairs, informed sources said.
Half of the upper chamber's 248 seats will be vied for in the upcoming election. Under the proportional representation system, 50 seats will be chosen with the remaining seats based on results from electoral districts
"Finally the upper house election is about to commence. I will continue my efforts as we have a mountain of big issues," Kishida told ruling Liberal Democratic Party executives.
READ MORE: Japan's Kishida defies forecasts, keeps majority in election
Japan's top government spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, meanwhile, said that pertinent issues at home and abroad will be "steadily" tackled.
"The government will steadily tackle domestic issues and diplomatic challenges," Matsuno said, referring in part to soaring energy and commodity prices here, which threaten to dampen consumption and hence the growth of resource-poor Japan's already fragile and COVID-hit economy.
Kishida, who took office last October, along with his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito coalition ally, will be looking to extend their grip on power in the upper house, so as to more swiftly pass key legislation and consolidate the government.
The ruling bloc currently controls both chambers of Japan's bicameral parliament.
Half of the upper chamber's 248 seats will be vied for in the upcoming election. Under the proportional representation system, 50 seats will be chosen with the remaining seats based on results from electoral districts.
Kishida's ruling bloc, while having achieved all 61 pieces of legislation submitted by the government, for the first time since the ordinary session in 1996, has, however, been facing some political and party-related headwinds of late.
The disapproval rating for Kishida's Cabinet, meanwhile, rose 5.1 percentage points to 26.9 percent, according to the poll conducted by Kyodo News
On Monday, a nationwide media poll showed that the approval rating for the Kishida's Cabinet dropped to 56.9 percent having edged up to 61.5 percent a month earlier, marking its highest level since he took office in October.
ALSO READ: Japan's new premier faces by-election test before national vote
The disapproval rating for Kishida's Cabinet, meanwhile, rose 5.1 percentage points to 26.9 percent, according to the poll conducted by Kyodo News.
In addition, an overwhelming 64.1 percent of those surveyed considered Kishida's response to rising prices to be "inadequate."
This compares to just 28.1 percent who considered the prime minister's response to the price hikes to be "satisfactory."
The poll also revealed that 77.3 percent of those surveyed said that soaring prices for food and daily necessities have affected their lives.
For 71.1 percent of those surveyed, this issue would be borne in mind when voting in next month's upper house election.
The LDP-led ruling bloc has also faced criticism from the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) over the ruling bloc's response to soaring prices.
House of Representatives Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda, meanwhile, has caught flak recently for being embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal.
ALSO READ: Japan’s main opposition CDP picks new leader
In another blow to Kishida and his ruling bloc, a lower house LDP member who belonged to a party faction led by Kishida, resigned from the party last week following allegations he took an 18-year-old girl out drinking and gave her 40,000 yen (300 U.S. dollars).
The legal age to consume alcohol in Japan is 20-years old.