TOKYO -- Inflation is expected to dominate Japan's upper house election on July 10, with political parties offering competing proposals for wage hikes and tax cuts to ease the growing burden on Japanese households.
All major parties had rolled out their campaign platforms by Friday. The drawn-out war in Ukraine is also bringing national security into sharp relief, prompting even some opposition parties to promise bolstering defense capabilities. Official campaigning is slated to kick off on Wednesday.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has placed wage hikes front and center. Its campaign platform pledged to promote investment in people and usher in an era of wage growth for the first time in 25 years.
Coalition partner Komeito, as well as the opposition Democratic Party for the People, also placed wage boosts at the top of their campaign promises.
Wages, broken down by workers' ages, genders and skill levels, have been trending down in Japan since their peak in 1997, according to the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo. Shinzo Abe's efforts for wage hikes during his second stint as prime minister yielded some results, but they remain below where they were in the 1990s.
The LDP also pledged to encourage small and midsize businesses to raise pay by expanding subsidies. It will push to raise the minimum wage, and ensure equal pay for equal work.
Komeito proposed a new mechanism for labor-management negotiations on pay hikes. It envisions a framework where an expert panel of academics and economists would decide on an appropriate increase.
Households would suffer a major blow if wages do not keep pace with surging consumer prices.
"Pay hikes are extremely important to make sure we end up with the good kind of inflation," said Constitutional Democratic Party leader Kenta Izumi. The opposition party aims to eventually raise the minimum wage to 1,500 yen ($11.30).
The Democratic Party for the People pledged to raise the minimum wage to at least 1,150 yen as quickly as possible. "We will put pay increases at the front and center," said leader Yuichiro Tamaki.
Nippon Ishin no Kai, or the Japan Innovation Party, as well as the Japanese Communist Party, Reiwa Shinsengumi, the Social Democratic Party and the NHK Party proposed tax cuts instead. The CDP promised to both reduce taxes and to urge the Bank of Japan to scale back its monetary easing.
Campaigning for the July 10 upper house election will kick off on June 22. (Photo by Uichiro Kasai) National security has also been a major focus in campaign platforms, in light of the war in Ukraine.
The LDP proposed lifting Japan's defense spending, with an eye on NATO's guideline for a minimum 2% of gross domestic product. Nippon Ishin also said it will target the 2% mark.
Komeito gave no numerical target, but pledged to steadily deploy and strengthen defensive capabilities. The CDP said it aims to improve the quality of Japan's defenses through efficient budget allocation instead of by increasing the total budget.
The Communist Party said it was against doubling defense spending, while the SDP said it will oppose any attempts to take advantage of the Ukraine crisis to expand Japan's defense capabilities.
In terms of the constitution, the LDP said it aims to pass an amendment as soon as possible, while Ishin proposed adding an explicit mention of the Self-Defense Forces in the text. The Democratic Party for the People pushed for creating a clause that deals specifically with emergency situations. The Communist Party and the SDP opposed any changes to the constitution.
With crude oil prices surging globally due to the war in Ukraine, many parties are looking to nuclear power to keep electricity prices down. The LDP pledged the "maximum use" of nuclear power, while Ishin and the Democratic Party for the People called for more reactors in Japan to be brought back online.