A heads up for the Japanese upper house election due, most likely in July (no set date as yet)
- The upper house is the 'House of Councillors', with 242 seats
- The election is for half of these seats (121)
- Of the seats not up for election the LDP (Abe's party) hold 76.
- Of the seats up for grabs in the election, Abe currently holds 59.
- Abe's party need to retain 46 of these 59 seats to keep its upper house majority
- But, if Abe can win 86 seats (alone or in combination with its coalition partner New Komeito) he will have a 2/3 majority in both houses and would be able to pass constitutional amendments
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There is some chatter that Abe may call a lower house election on the same day as the upper house election. its only loose talk at this stage though and is more aimed at discouraging challenges to his leadership than a real prospect. A lower house election is not due until late 2018.
As we head toward the upper house election we should expect a greater focus on improving the economy from Abe. The voters love it when he focuses on economic improvement.
