Japan’s Buddhist-backed Komeito facing ‘existential crisis’ after bruising election defeat

Komeito, the Buddhist-backed political partner of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is grappling with what it calls an “existential crisis” after a bruising defeat in July’s Upper House election compounded internal fractures and exposed a growing disconnect with its traditional support base.

The party’s stark assessment was contained in a postmortem report, formally approved on Thursday, that acknowledged the scale of the setback. At a subsequent senior party meeting, Secretary General Makoto Nishida offered his resignation, despite having only taken up the post last September.

Nishida appeared to be taking responsibility for the loss of six seats, which reduced Komeito’s presence in the 248-member chamber to 21. The party’s share of the vote also shrank by 5.37 per cent – a serious blow for a group long seen as the LDP’s reliable coalition ally.

At a press conference in Tokyo on Friday, however, party leader Tetsuo Saito announced he would not accept Nishida’s resignation, saying, “A wealth of experience and outstanding coordination skills are essential to move forward with the many issues that we face.”

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Political analysts agree that Komeito now finds itself increasingly adrift – not just because of its shrinking electoral footprint, but because of its diminished sway within an LDP struggling with its own historic unpopularity and internal divisions.