Prior to the election, there was a frenzy of creation and destruction of parties, and the public's interest in politics was on the decline. However, the few campaign issues that were of the public's interest included the electoral reforms, potential raise in consumption tax, and how the large coalitions will play out. From the perspective of the voters, the most important issue was the potential raise in consumption tax. According to scholar Ichiro Miyake, voter's opinion possession rate, party position perception rate, personal importance cognition rate of "tax increase" exceeded that of "regime change".
Liberal Democratic Party In the
LDP manifesto, administrative reform is given top priority over any other campaign issues. While reflecting on the past 50-years of administrative policy prioritizing production and supply with strong centralization and bureaucratization as an effective method in simultaneously achieving economic growth and tackling social inequality, the LDP admits this system is "at a deadlock" considering the situation regarding women, increasing urban-rural disparities and the issue of
low-birth rate. To tackle these issues, the LDP introduced the "
Hashimoto Administrative Reform Vision (橋本行革ビジョン)", which included changes such as; • "Slimming" the Power of government • Deregulation of the economy • Decreasing the power of
bureaucrats • Reduction of income/residence tax, while raising
consumption tax to 5% • Tackling deficit financing, etc. Hashimoto reform vision strays far from previous LDP reforms, notably under
Nakasone. then Hashimoto also increased the power of political leaders by replacing vice ministers with Diet members whom he trusted.
New Frontier Party The leader of the opposing coalition NFP's manifesto was directly against that of the LDP, introducing the "5 contracts with the people (国民との5つの契約)", aimed at "revitalizing the lives of citizens" for the coming 21st century. The 5 promises were as follows. • Keeping the consumption tax at 3% and an ¥18 trillion tax cut based on reducing the income and residence tax in half • Administrative reform, decentralization, and abolition of regulations for a reduction of ¥20 trillion in national and regional expenses • Reducing utility charges by 20-50% • Guaranteeing pension and nursing care to eliminate anxiety of old age • Excluding bureaucratic dependence and holding politicians accountable
Democratic Party The Democratic party introduced the following "7 major issues" as the backbone of their manifesto. • Enforcement of political and administrative reform • Promotion of civic activities and creation of a civic-centric society • Implementation of economic structural reform and improvement of infrastructure for creative industrial activities • Restructuring of the social security system and realization of symbiotic welfare society • Fundamentally review and reform of public works • Development of autonomous active diplomacy and promotion of non-military international cooperation • Creating and implementing a future-oriented fiscal reconstruction plan
Communist Party The Communist party's manifesto is centered around three key issues: stopping the consumption tax raise, the abolishment of US military bases in
Okinawa following the abandonment of the
US-Japan security treaty, and to increase social security and welfare. In the manifesto, the party gives a national outlook, summarized in three parts; • Democratically regulating large enterprises and prioritizing the lives of citizens • To protect the
Constitution (with an emphasis on
Article 9), contribute to the peace of
Asia and the world • To maintain and cherish freedom and democracy
Social Democratic Party The Social Democratic Party proposed three slogans - "Yes, let's go with SDP", "A new dynamism, SDP", and "What can only be done by the SDP" - and fought the election. The following 5 manifestos were considered the cornerstones of the election. •
National security for creating a peaceful Japan and the world, with respect to the spirit of the
Constitution and reflections and lessons learnt from history • Creating a simple and efficient government with rich autonomy, with fundamental administrative reform that breaks down the adhesion between the government and the private sector • Creating prosperous lifestyles with economic structural reforms that bring out competitive effects, with emphasis on the environment, safety, and employment • Undertaking fiscal structural reforms while fundamentally reviewing taxes and finances, to create a high-quality
welfare society • Preserving human dignity and
human rights, for a coexisting society that is gentle and caring for
men and women ==Results==