Takaichi and JIP's Yoshimura agree to submit bill reducing Lower House seats

LDP and JIP lawmakers discuss Lower House seats reduction in Tokyo on Nov. 21. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai) leader Hirofumi Yoshimura agreed Monday to submit a bill during the current parliamentary session that will reduce the number of Lower House seats by 10%, fulfilling a key goal of their coalition agreement. Introducing and passing a bill to reduce the number of parliamentary seats in the lower chamber was a core demand for the JIP in exchange for agreeing to a coalition government with Takaichi and the Liberal Democratic Party. "Takaichi and I agreed to submit a seat-reduction bill during the current parliamentary session," Yoshimura said on his X account. "To ensure the bill's effectiveness -- and taking into account the opposition parties' views -- we agreed on a plan that will reduce seats by 10% in single-seat constituencies and proportional representation seats, rather than reducing seats only in the proportional representation system."