TOKYO -- Komeito, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s junior coalition partner, won only 24 seats in the Oct. 27 House of Representatives election, down eight from the 32 it held prior to the election, as it faced an uphill battle in the Kansai region against Nippon Ishin (the Japan Innovation Party) while damage from the LDP's slush fund scandal extended to the party.

Keiichi Ishii, the leader of Komeito, was no exception. Ishii was defeated in a fierce race in the Saitama No. 14 electoral district. He did not stand for proportional representation this time.

In a TV program on election night, Makoto Nishida, secretary-general of the party, said of the LDP and Komeito's predicted drastic loss of seats, "It is a clear sign of anger toward the ruling coalition, including over the issue of 'money in politics.'" Referring to the fact that the LDP dished out 20 million yen (around $130,000) each to party branches headed by candidates who were not officially endorsed by the LDP -- the same amount as for branches headed by endorsed candidates -- he said, "I think this widened the gap. It is very regrettable."

Since 2012 when the LDP-Komeito alliance returned to power, Komeito had won almost all of the single-seat electoral districts it had contested. In the four lower house elections since then, it fielded candidates in nine single-seat constituencies each time, losing only one, in the Kanagawa No. 6 district in 2017. However, the situation was different in the latest election, which was the toughest one since the 2009 lower house election, when it lost all eight of its single-seat constituency seats.

In Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist organization supporting the party, has built a strong base in what is known as the "ever-victorious Kansai" region. This time, however, the party faced difficulties in the six electoral districts there, which are the key for the party's victories in single-seat constituencies.

Komeito has been cooperating with Nippon Ishin on the "Osaka metropolis plan," and the two parties have avoided stepping on each other's toes in constituencies in the Kansai region. This time, however, Nippon Ishin, seeking to expand its power, changed its policy to field candidates in all constituencies, resulting in the two parties vying for the same seats. As a result, Komeito won only two of the six electoral districts, both in Hyogo.

The public's strong criticism of the LDP's slush fund scandal also created a headwind for Komeito as a coalition partner. Komeito was nervous about being criticized as "being in the same boat" as the LDP, and in the recent ordinary Diet session, it had been pressing the LDP to reform itself, which had been reluctant to do so. For this reason, an individual close to Komeito sighed, "This is the worst kind of mishap through no fault of our own." A senior party official was indignant at the unfavorable results in the vote count, saying, "Komeito had nothing to do with the slush fund case."

Another blow to the party was that its leader, who was expected to be traveling around the country making stump speeches, was unable to do so.

Ishii was hoping to expand the party's popularity by touring the country, but he switched his candidacy from the Kita-Kanto proportional representation bloc to the Saitama No. 14 electoral district, and his political ground was not solid. Amid reports of a close race, he had no choice but to stay mostly in his constituency, making only five visits outside the prefecture during the 12-day campaign to give speeches supporting Komeito candidates. He spent only one day in Osaka, where the races were fierce.

Natsuo Yamaguchi, who headed Komeito for 15 years before stepping down in September, traveled all over the country instead.

A person close to Komeito said, "This was not an offensive election, so we had imagined there would be some degree of slowdown, but it was more than we had expected."

(Japanese original by Minami Nomaguchi, Political News Department)