2025 Japanese House of Councillors election

Elections to the House of Councillors of Japan were held on 20 July 2025, with 124 of the 248 members of the upper house of the National Diet to be elected for a term of six years. The election took place about 10 months into the premiership of Shigeru Ishiba, who has governed Japan as Prime Minister since he won the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in September 2024. Shortly after he became Prime Minister, Ishiba announced snap elections to the House of Representatives for 27 October, which saw the LDP lose its majority for the first time since 2009. Since November 2024, Ishiba has governed as the leader of a minority government, struggling to pass legislation and budget agreements without the support of opposition parties. Growing dissatisfaction with the LDP and a scandal involving gift vouchers given to MPs by Ishiba have hurt his approval ratings. Simultaneously, opposition parties have attempted to unite in an effort to deny the LDP a majority in the election; the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and Ishin no Kai Party in particular formulated plans to hold "opposition primaries" in several prefectures. The 17-day campaign began on 3 July, with 518 total candidates running. Measures to combat the rising cost of living and immigration were the key issues of the election. Similar to the outcome of the 2024 general election, the ruling coalition of the LDP and Komeito lost its majority in the House of Councillors. The LDP’s national vote share fell to 21.6%, the lowest result in the party’s history. The coalition’s decline was driven by growing support for smaller opposition parties. Parties making major gains included the center-right Democratic Party for the People, which displaced Komeito to become the third-largest party in the chamber and fourth-largest in the Diet overall, and the right-wing populist Sanseitō, whose anti-immigrant rhetoric drew significant media attention during the campaign period. In addition, a record number of women won seats in the Diet. Following the election, Ishiba faced calls to resign from some members within his party. He announced his intention to resign as party president in September 2025, triggering a snap leadership election to replace him in October.