Explainer | Explained: what’s at stake in Japan’s 2019 upper house election?
- The ruling LDP-Komeito coalition maintains its lead over the lacklustre opposition parties, and is poised to retain its two-thirds supermajority
- It is likely to be Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s final campaign, as he has promised to not contest another term as LDP leader after 2021
![Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Photo: Bloomberg](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1020x680/public/d8/images/methode/2019/07/19/11d61f72-a906-11e9-862b-600d112f3b14_image_hires_072622.jpg?itok=qBTNfapq&v=1563492390)
Elections for half the upper house are fixed for every three years, so representatives serve staggered six-year terms. The number of seats has been raised from 242 to 248, to correct a voter-value disparity. For this election campaign, which officially started on July 4, there are 74 seats determined by first-past-the-post voting in prefectural constituencies, and the 50 other seats are allocated from national proportional representation votes on party lists.
![Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed not to contest another term. Photo: Kyodo Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed not to contest another term. Photo: Kyodo](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/methode/2019/07/19/ed490a8e-a964-11e9-862b-600d112f3b14_1320x770_072622.jpg)
If the governing coalition of the LDP and its junior partner the Komeito Party falls below its current upper house majority of 147, that will end Abe’s hopes of amending Article 9 of the constitution, to embed formal recognition of the Japanese Self Defence Forces (SDF).
Will Abe win, and what are the major issues of the campaign?
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