Abe and the LDP remain dominant after Japan’s Upper House elections

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and junior ally Komeito secured a solid majority in the House of Councillors — Japan’s Upper House of the National Diet — at the first Reiwa-era national election held in July 2019. This gives Abe an unprecedented sixth consecutive electoral win — three Lower House and three Upper House — since he came to power a second time in 2012.

Double dissolution election on the cards in Japan

As early as April Abe’s horizon will have to shrink to his own backyard, where mundane events may yet force him to temper his policy ambitions.