A New Kingmaker in Tokyo: The Rise of Japan’s Democratic Party For the People

Yuichiro Tamaki, the leader of the Democratic Party For the People (DPFP), gives a speech in Fukuoka, Japan. Under Tamaki’s leadership, the DPFP emerged as one of the big winners of the 2024 House of Representatives election.  (Wikimedia Commons)

The Democratic Party For the People (DPFP) has established itself as a new major player in Japanese politics following a pivotal general election in October 2024. In the election the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) also lost its majority in the country’s House of Representatives, the lower house of Japan’s National Diet, for the first time since 2009. 

The October 27 snap election was called by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba soon after he succeeded his unpopular predecessor Fumio Kishida. While Ishiba had made a political gamble that a fresh face as party leader could somehow overcome voter disgruntlement against the LDP in the wake of recent scandals, the results of the election ultimately proved him wrong. While the LDP and its junior coalition partner, the Komeito party, were relegated to a minority government, the DPFP managed to quadruple its number of seats, from seven to 28. 

Since its inception in 2020, the DPFP has promoted itself as an alternative third party to both the LDP and the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), the main center-left opposition party. In 2024, the party campaigned under the slogan “Increase Take-Home Pay and Win Over Inflation,” arguing that an increase in taxes by the LDP-led government had nullified recent increases in wages, meaning average disposable income remained stagnant. 

As its primary solution to the issue, the DPFP proposes raising the threshold of basic income tax exemption from the current 1.03 million yen cap in annual income to 1.73 million yen. However, the LDP has expressed concern regarding the idea of removing the “1.03 million yen income barrier,” claiming that it would slash government revenue by nearly 8 trillion yen. The DPFP has also called for cutting consumption taxes from 10% to 5%, monetary easing from the Bank of Japan, and unfreezing the “trigger clause” in gasoline taxation legislation (which would lower gasoline taxes in order to counter rising fuel prices). Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ishiba has already advocated for an increase in defense spending by upwards of 43 trillion yen by 2030. Outside of economic policy, the DPFP proposes restarting many nuclear power plants throughout the country that have stayed dormant since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, as well as constructing new power plants, in order to secure Japan’s energy supply. The party also suggested legislation encouraging more government support and funding towards disaster prevention, childcare and education. Negotiations with the LDP-Komeito minority government have been partially successful, with the coalition agreeing to at least consider the DPFP’s proposals.

The party may have never achieved such success without its leader, Yuichiro Tamaki. Representing Kagawa, the geographically smallest of Japan’s 47 prefectures, Tamaki has been noted for leveraging social media as part of the DPFP’s campaigning efforts, amassing thousands of subscribers and views online. He was instrumental in pushing his fledgling party’s identity as policy and solution-oriented rather than ideological, and has won further support for refusing to join either the LDP-led coalition or a CDP-led opposition bloc. Such factors may help explain why the party saw significant success with young, undecided voters in their 20s and 30s who supported neither the LDP nor the CDP. 

Unfortunately, Tamaki has also faced a personal scandal; a tabloid recently exposed an extramarital affair between him and a tourism ambassador for Takamatsu, Tamaki’s hometown. While he subsequently apologized in a press conference, the DPFP suspended his leadership role for three months following an internal probe—he is set to return this month. Regardless, Tamaki retains widespread support; the rise of his party has the potential to mark a new age in Japanese politics.