By Anadolu staff
ANKARA (AA) - Official campaigning for Japan's House of Councilors, or upper house of the Diet, kicked off on Thursday and is seen as a critical test for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's minority government amid a rising cost-of-living crisis, local media reported.
The 17-day campaign will determine whether the embattled ruling coalition can maintain its majority in the chamber by winning at least 50 of the 125 seats up for grabs.
A total of 519 candidates have registered across electoral districts and proportional representation, state broadcaster NHK reported.
They included 152 women candidates, nearly 30%, marking the second-highest female representation on record.
- Voting slated for July 20
The upper house has 248 members, with elections held every three years to fill approximately half of the seats, will go to polls on July 20.
Members serve six-year terms, and the election is a combination of local districts and national proportional representation.
The ruling coalition currently holds 75 non-contested seats in the House of Councilors, implying that they must win 50 more seats in the current election to maintain a majority.
Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party (LPD) and coalition partner Komeito Party, which are trying to keep their upper house majority, are under fire for rising inflation, which is central to opposition parties' campaigns. The allies lost majority in the lower house last year and run a minority government with outside support from opposition groups.
The ruling and opposition parties are proposing measures such as direct cash payments, reductions, or abolishing the consumption tax, and interventions to combat rising rice prices.
Pensions, social security, declining birth rates, and foreign policy, including responses to US tariff pressures, are all expected to be addressed during the campaign.
The LPD, which has traditionally received support from agricultural groups, has pledged not to sacrifice the agriculture sector in response to US pressure for increased market access.
*Writing by Aamir Latif