Upper House Election: Yomiuri Analysis: Social Media Buzz on Consumption Tax, Cash Handouts, Foreign Nationals Dominates Upper House Election Discussion
Using Meltwater's social-media analytics tool, the newspaper examined the posts, including reposts, from June 26 — one week before the official campaign period — through Saturday. It tracked the volume of posts containing the term 'House of Councillors election' in various Japanese forms plus each of the ten key words often cited in party manifestos or debates: consumption tax, foreign nationals, cash handouts, rising prices, tariffs, child-rearing, rice, social-insurance premiums, national security, and hidden funds.'Consumption tax' generated the highest volume of posts and reposts. Mentions have risen roughly steadily since before the campaign began, reaching roughly 53,000 on Saturday. Widely shared messages include criticism of the Liberal Democratic Party for framing the tax as an 'essential funding source for social security,' as well as amplifications of opposition leaders' calls for abolition or tax cuts.
Interest in the ruling coalition's proposal for direct cash handouts and concern over rising prices of food and other essentials is also trending upward. Taken together with consumption tax chatter, the data point to strong voter concern over pocketbook issues.
Alongside taxes and benefits, 'foreign nationals' is another high-volume term, fluctuating between 20,000 and 40,000 posts around the start of official campaigning. Highly shared posts frequently argue that land purchases or immigration by foreigners 'should be restricted,' while others express alarm at such views.
Mentions of 'tariffs,' a topic linked to negotiations with the U.S. administration, also climbed to around 10,000 near the campaign kickoff. By contrast, the remaining five keywords — child-rearing, rice, social-insurance premiums, national security, and hidden funds — each drew only a few thousand.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
an hour ago
Ceremony Marks Start of Supply of Japanese-Made SAF
News from Japan Economy Jul 8, 2025 12:54 (JST) Tokyo, July 8 (Jiji Press)--Entities including All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and engineering company JGC Holdings Corp. have held a ceremony at Tokyo's Haneda Airport to mark the start of supplies of Japanese-made sustainable aviation fuel. On Monday, SAF that uses waste cooking oil collected in cooperation with the Tokyo metropolitan government as a material was supplied to ANA's passenger aircraft. The start of supply of domestic SAF at Haneda "represented a major step toward decarbonization at the aviation industry," ANA President Shinichi Inoue said at the ceremony, held the same day. "We hope to further expand the efforts," JGC President and Chairman Masayuki Sato said. At Haneda, a joint company set up by JGC and others started to supply the domestic SAF to ANA and JAL aircraft in May. The joint venture is expected to supply the environmentally friendly fuel also to carriers including Delta Air Lines of the United States in the future. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Kyodo News
an hour ago
- Kyodo News
Japan to launch Cabinet team on issues related to foreign residents
TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged Tuesday to set up a new command center within the Cabinet Secretariat early next week to address challenges related to foreign residents in Japan, the top government spokesman said. The issue has become one of the major topics during official campaigning for the July 20 House of Councillors election, with some minor parties arguing that regulations on foreigners living in Japan should be tightened to "protect the rights of Japanese people." "Realizing an orderly society inclusive of foreign residents is one of the most important policy matters the government should tackle," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a regular press conference, explaining Ishiba's plan. The move appears aimed at gaining public support for the government's response to controversies related to foreign residents, including allegations of misuse of the national welfare system, ahead of the key upper house election. The issues have prompted some minor conservative opposition parties to adopt xenophobic stances toward foreign residents, making remarks that could be considered hate speech and claiming that Japan's culture and the economy must be protected. On Saturday, Naoki Hyakuta, a former novelist and leader of the Conservative Party of Japan, said that foreign workers "disrespect Japanese culture, ignore the rules, assault Japanese people, and steal their belongings." During the upper house election campaign, another minor opposition group, the Sanseito party, has drawn attention among conservatives with nationalist and anti-establishment views under its "Japanese First" banner. The party's leader, Sohei Kamiya, has asserted that globalization is the "reason behind Japan's poverty," saying foreigners are buying up land and company stocks and that the number of workers from abroad has grown excessively amid a labor shortage. The Conservative Party of Japan, launched in 2023, and Sanseito, established in 2020, each won three seats in last year's House of Representatives election.
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average Buoyed by Weak Yen as Trump Tariff Deadline Delayed
TOKYO, July 8 (Reuters) – Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Tuesday, buoyed by a weakening yen and as U.S. President Donald Trump gave an additional three-week grace period for tariff negotiations. The Nikkei .N225 gained 0.2% to 39,679.13 as of 0220 GMT. The broader Topix .TOPX added 0.1%. On Monday, Trump began telling selected trade partners that they will see higher tariff rates from August 1, with the original three-month moratorium on 'Liberation Day' reciprocal levies expiring on Wednesday. Japan will now see a rate of 25%. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said his administration would continue negotiations with the White House to seek a mutually beneficial bilateral deal. Initially touted by Trump's team as a likely early success, talks with Tokyo remain stalled for weeks, largely over a 25% tariff on Japanese auto imports. 'It's very clear that it be will very difficult' to overcome the obstacles to an agreement on autos, said the chief macro strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management, Masayuki Kichikawa, who sees the 25% duty on the sector sticking. Japan's best outcome would be a lowering of the universal 25% rate to the baseline 10% the U.S. is levying on all trading partners, he said. According to Kichikawa, 'there is no choice other than to wait and see' for now as the July 20 Japanese upper house elections leave Ishiba's team little room to show flexibility in trade negotiations until after the result. Japanese stocks rose on the day even after the tariff announcements, which also included South Korea along with a host of smaller nations, sent Wall Street sliding from record highs. Japan's heavyweight exporters were supported by a sharply weaker yen, with Trump's new tariff rates spurring a broad rally in the U.S. currency overnight. A weaker yen inflates the value of overseas revenues. The chip sector was a standout, with Advantest 6857.T gaining 2.2% and Furukawa Electric 5801.T jumping 7.7%. Automakers advanced, with Mazda 7261.T climbing 2.5% and Toyota 7203.T up 0.5%. However, shares of embattled Nissan 7201.T slumped for a third day, shedding an additional 2.9%.
