As election day for the House of Councillors draws near, party leaders have been rushing around battleground prefectures and campaigning energetically. This includes Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. He has made such pledges as "Protecting the livelihoods of the people," "Making an economic recovery," and "Taking measures to cope with rising prices."
If you listen carefully, you will find that his choice of words in campaign speeches is somewhat different from that of his predecessors. He seems reluctant to champion a pro-reform stance. This is not common for a new prime minister who took office only eight months ago. In the previous session of the Diet, Kishida used the word "reform" about 100 times in his speeches or responses. A fourth of those instances were about reforming the United Nations Security Council, which is unrealistic in the current world situation, and is not high on Kishida's agenda.
