<figure id="attachment_455333" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-455333" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="19c3c8bc"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/01/0640cc8c2baca6097e68d44717418663.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455333" class="wp-caption-text">The second Koichi Cabinet has been inaugurated after its historic victory in the recent lower house election, but some citizens are distrustful of its contents</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Is there something they don&#8217;t want recorded in the minutes?</h3>
<p> On February 26, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (64) held the first meeting of the &#8220;National Council on Social Security&#8221; at the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office to discuss the design of the consumption tax reduction and tax credit with benefits programs. Prime Minister Takaichi said, &#8220;We want to ease the burden on middle- and low-income earners who suffer from taxes, social insurance premiums, and high prices. We would like to submit the necessary bills to the Diet as soon as possible.</p>
<p> However, the first and second opposition parties, the Coalition for Reform of the Middle Way (hereafter &#8220;the Middle Way&#8221;) and the KMT, announced that they would not participate.</p>
<p> Since the Sangyo, the Communist Party, and the Reiwa Shinsei Gumi were not invited to participate, citing their differing views on the consumption tax, the LDP, The Japan Innovation Party, and Team Mirai were the only three parties that participated, despite the conference bearing the &#8220;nation&#8221; in its name.</p>
<p> On January 24, representatives of each party asked questions in response to Prime Minister Takaichi&#8217;s policy speech, and Junya Ogawa, 54, the new representative of the centrist party, questioned the pros and cons of establishing a &#8220;National People&#8217;s Conference.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> He asked, &#8220;Isn&#8217;t it the usual practice for the ruling party itself to organize various issues, make an open proposal to the Diet, and discuss it in a fully open forum? Please explain why the National Conference is being held now with regard to the consumption tax cut and other issues. If it is a National Council that pretends to have done something and shifts the responsibility, I will not support it.</span></p>
<p> Since it is a policy consultative body, it is not a &#8220;discussion from scratch,&#8221; and one cannot help but nod to the government and ruling party&#8217;s assertion that they are &#8220;calling on opposition parties who agree with the realization of the tax credit with benefits. However, it is strange that some parties are not allowed to participate in the meeting, even though it is labeled &#8220;by the people.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> We should set up a special committee at the Finance and Monetary Affairs Committee.</span><span class="strongInContent"> If we set up a special committee at the Finance and Monetary Affairs Committee and discuss the issue in the Diet, all parties can participate. It is also strange to exclude from the discussion the public party that the people voted for. Is there something they don&#8217;t want to record in the Diet proceedings?</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" To create an alibi?"></div>
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<h3>To create an alibi?</h3>
<p> In his policy speech last October, Mr. Takaichi announced the creation of a national council of nonpartisans and experts to discuss social security reform, and at his New Year&#8217;s press conference on January 5, he stated that the council would be established in January.</p>
<p> However, the sudden dissolution of the Diet and the general election have delayed the establishment of the council, and the timing and content of the council, which was originally to discuss social security reform, have changed from the original plan, saying, &#8220;The National Council will consider whether to eliminate the consumption tax on food products.</p>
<p> The Takaichi administration plans to &#8220;compile an interim report by summer,&#8221; but neither the Nakamichi nor the National Democratic Party of Japan will participate in the first meeting of the National Council. The government seems to be willing to allow participation during the process, but it is undeniable that they are &#8220;giving up on the idea.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> The first meeting of the National Assembly will be held, but the opposition parties will be divided into those that can participate and those that cannot, with only Team Mirai from the opposition participating. In the last general election, Mirai won 11 seats by maintaining the consumption tax rate and advocating reductions in social security spending. I believe that the majority of voices within the LDP have already concluded that the consumption tax rate will not be lowered.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> As Mr. Takaichi, it would be good if he could pose as &#8216;I set up the National Council for the people. Even if the tax rate is maintained after discussion, I think he just wants an endorsement through the National Council that &#8216;prices are high, but cutting the consumption tax rate was not the best policy.</span></p>
<p> The current Diet session is also in dispute over whether or not the new fiscal year&#8217;s budget bill can be approved by the end of March. Mr. Takaichi has asked the opposition parties to cooperate in speedy deliberations and has expressed his desire to pass the budget by the end of the fiscal year, saying, &#8220;We will aim to pass the Reiwa 2026 budget and bills that need to be passed by the end of the current fiscal year by the end of this fiscal year.</p>
<p> However, the budget deliberations have been delayed by about a month because of the dissolution of the Diet and the general election that Mr. Takaichi called in midwinter.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> Despite the fact that the proposed budget is the largest ever, amounting to 122 trillion yen, the Diet is trying to shorten the schedule and shorten the time for deliberations in order to pass the budget for the new fiscal year.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Defense spending has reached the 9 trillion yen level for the first time, the largest ever. The government plans to submit a bill to revise the three security-related documents, review the three principles for the transfer of defense equipment, and abolish the five categories of defense capabilities.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> How will the government come up with a stable and permanent source of funds to meet the growing defense expenditures? Also, if defense equipment capable of killing and wounding is to be exported overseas, the Diet will need to deliberate on the matter, and careful explanations will be required from the public. However, there is a great demand for the bill to be enacted as soon as possible. The election result was a historic victory for the LDP, but the people have not given them carte blanche.</span></p>
<p> When the second Koichi Cabinet was inaugurated on February 18, he smiled, saying, &#8220;This is the start of the &#8216;Koichi Cabinet 2.0. I sincerely hope that &#8220;2.0&#8221; does not mean &#8220;shortening the deliberation time,&#8221; &#8220;eliminating objections,&#8221; or &#8220;a national assembly to create an alibi.</p>


 Daisuke Iwasaki

 The "National Council on Social Security" was held on January 26. Prior to the election, Prime Minister Takaichi had said that the council would be established by the end of January, but the establishment of the council was delayed by about one month. Despite his vigorous statements, the realization of the content of the plan has been postponed.

Is the National Council trying to make excuses for not cutting the food sales tax?

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