It was supposed to be a general election in which the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the number one opposition party, would threaten the ruling party. What and how did this happen? The party unexpectedly lost its current seats.
In a sudden turn of events, the party&#8217;s leader Yukio Edano and his executive committee resigned and a new leader was chosen. In contrast to the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which held a power struggle for the presidency just before the election, the CDP changed its representative immediately after the election.
<figure id="attachment_215633" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1654px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-215633"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4de905ac"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2021/11/42d47901432d7eaa6923aa9b48f3b309.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-215633" class="wp-caption-text">Kenta Izumi, 47, was the candidate for the Rikken representative election. He is also a veteran legislator, having been elected eight times. Izumi&#8217;s vision of &#8220;the path this country should take&#8221; is&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
The first candidate to announce his candidacy for the election was Kenta Izumi, who was selling his youthfulness. He is 47 years old and won the Kyoto election against a candidate from the Liberal Democratic Party.
<h2>I will transcend division and think through the path this country should take.</h2>
On November 17, more than 50 members of the mass media gathered in Room 6 of the First Legislative Assembly Building for his candidacy press conference. It was a sign of the hope that the revival of the opposition parties would change the bad trend of Japan&#8217;s stagnation.
 &#8220;In a time when society as a whole is moving toward division, forcing people to make choices in a way that incites conflict is harmful. We need to change the social system that leads to confrontation and division. Then, start with the oar. The Constitutional Democratic Party should not be stuck forever with the old people or the old democrats. Through the election of representatives, we will exchange opinions and think through the way the party should be and the path this country should take. That is what the election is all about.
 And the party must work as one to become a Constitutional Democratic Party that the people can entrust with their government. I ran for office with that determination.
Immediately after the press conference, Kenta Izumi gave an interview in his room in the Diet building.
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Born in Ishikari Town, Hokkaido. Born in Ishikari-cho, Hokkaido. Graduated from Sapporo Kaisei High School in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and from the Faculty of Law at Ritsumeikan University. After graduating from university, he became a secretary to Tetsuro Fukuyama, then a member of the House of Councillors of the Democratic Party of Japan and the current Secretary General of the Constitutional Democratic Party. He was first elected to the Diet in 2003 at the age of 29. Although young, he is a veteran, having been elected eight times.
 &#8220;In this election, there were many comrades who were defeated and lost. It was frustrating. I was so close. If we could have won just a few more seats, we could have put a stop to the arrogance and arrogance of the LDP government. The people&#8217;s judgment demands that the CDP make a little more effort and study. I think we have to respond to that.
The opposition coalition had pushed the LDP candidate to within a few dozen or even a few hundred votes. However, Edano Rikken was unable to win that close race.
<h2>We want to make those who don&#8217;t support us happy, too.</h2>
Izumi&#8217;s vision of Japan is not a country where only the wealthy can continue to enjoy the benefits of the wealthy.
 He said, &#8220;We need to create a country where everyone can live without anxiety, not only the strong but also the weak, women and men, and a society where life is worth living. We must create a society where life is worth living. This is the kind of Japan we can be proud of.
 No one should commit suicide due to economic hardship or power harassment. Some people may scold you for being all pretty words and deviating from substantive politics. Some may criticize the opposition parties for being all about criticism. But we should not be criticized by those who criticize us or do not support us. Even from people who don&#8217;t support us. But we want to create a political party that people who criticize us and people who don&#8217;t support us will be able to say, &#8220;Can I trust you? We promise to create a society where everyone can &#8216;live&#8217; with peace of mind.
Kiyomi Tsujimoto, a former member of the Diet who was unsuccessful in this election, appeared on &#8220;Politas TV&#8221; after the election and expressed her hopes along with some remorse.
 Kiyomi Tsujimoto, a former member of the Diet who lost the election, appeared on &#8220;Politicus TV&#8221; after she lost the election and expressed her hopes as well as some remorse: &#8220;No matter who the next representative is, I will always go to them and say, &#8216;We need an equal number of male and female candidates for next year&#8217;s Upper House election.
In response, Izumi said, &#8220;You are right.
 &#8220;You&#8217;re right. I agree with you very much. I don&#8217;t know how many candidates from the Rikken are willing to run now. &#8230; Of course, we would like to hold a public election. We will seek candidates from a wide range of fields, and after talking with the election campaign team, we hope to realize this goal.
It is an ironic development that both the ruling and opposition parties, which are subject to the choice of government, have changed their leaders, but it is necessary for the betterment of the lives of the people.
Izumi spoke passionately about the nationwide development of what he now envisions as a &#8220;national political movement.
 &#8220;We are going to launch a nationwide movement called Rikken Action. Women, young people, individual business owners, workers. &#8230; I want to have a thorough dialogue with people whose voices have been hard to reach so far. We need to hear more voices from the frontlines. I will take one more step to build a stronger CDP. I want to listen to the voices within the party and the voices of the people and incorporate them. My goal is not to become the party&#8217;s representative, but to go beyond that into the future.
The CDP is about to enter a period of major change.
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The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which is always watching for anti-authority movements, is constructing its strategy. The CDP of the past will not be enough to outsmart them. It needs to be stronger and more determined. At times, it may even need to be more cunning than the LDP. The election of representatives will reveal the entire nature of the party.
<figure id="attachment_215632" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 4032px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-215632"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="50f37d6e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2021/11/IMG_9775.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-215632" class="wp-caption-text">I was born in Hokkaido and went to Kyoto for college. &#8220;Tokyo is not the whole of Japan. We need to listen to the voices of the local people and make the most of their power.</figcaption></figure>

 Takashi Hashimoto

 This was supposed to be a general election in which the Constitutional Democratic Party, the number one opposition party, would threaten the ruling party. I don't know what happened and how it happened, but the party unexpectedly lost its current seats. In a sudden turn of events, Representative Yukio Edano and his executive committee resigned and a new representative was chosen. The Election

Kenta Izumi, a candidate in the CDP election, aims for a “Japan that transcends division.

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