The The Centrist Reform Alliance returning to the left, and the old media supporting it
In January 2026, Prime Minister Takaichi announced the dissolution of the House of Representatives, stating, “This is to ask the people whether they will choose Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, or whether they will choose co-leader Noda or someone else as Prime Minister.”
This was not surprising. Prime Minister Takaichi has been governing based on the results of the confidence vote held under former Prime Minister Ishiba.
Therefore, Prime Minister Takaichi asked the people for their confidence in order to implement her future policies.
During her campaign speech on the first day of the election campaign with leader Yoshimura and co-leader Fujita of the Japan Innovation Party (hereinafter called JIP), Prime Minister Takaichi explained why she was seeking a vote of confidence.
Since Japan has the parliamentary cabinet system unlike a presidential election, the Prime Minister is not directly elected by the people.
However, Diet members who are elected as representatives of the people express their confidence in the Prime Minister. In other words, although it is an indirect process, the House of Representatives election constitutes the people’s expression of confidence in Prime Minister Takaichi.
Prime Minister Takaichi’s approval rating had remained high, but the approval rating of the Liberal Democratic Party(hereinafter called LDP) of Japan had not been quite as high.
In that situation, the House of Representatives election resulted in a historic landslide victory for the LDP.In other words, it can be concluded that the majority of the public entrusted Japan’s future to Prime Minister Takaichi.
However, the old media whose biased reporting has been exposed to the public and whose influence has waned is now making nonsensical claims like “The LDP won a landslide victory, but this is not given LDP carte blanche,” as if mocking the voters.
People with left-wing ideologies such as the old media sometimes claim that “democracy is over” or that “we are far from true democracy” when things don’t go their way.
Many on left-wing ideologies seem to believe that “equality of outcomes” is true equality rather than “equality of opportunity.” In other words, they are seemingly arguing that this authoritarian ideology is what constitutes an equal democracy.
What offended us was an article in the Nikkei titled “Elections have shifted from party politics based on substantive policy debates to “idol-chasing” elections, bringing an end to postwar democracy.”
It’s a very offensive article that condescendingly mocks young people who went out to vote.
That’s why the NIKKEI SHINBUN is sometimes dismissed as nothing more than a gossip magazine.
A major change also occurred within the Centrist Reform Alliance that had been flying in a Dutch roll since just after takeoff.
Actually, they have simply returned to their original political positions.
Following a crushing defeat in the House of Representatives election, co-leader Noda and Saito of the Centrist Reform Alliance have resigned.
The new party leader is councilor Junya Ogawa, who defeated councilor Takeshi Kai to win his seat.
Party leader Ogawa recently stated the following during the internet program:
(1) There is no justifiable reason for this dissolution of the House of Representatives.
(2) If I take power, I will not allow such a dissolution without a justifiable reason.
(3) There is no need to set a deadline for clarifying our position on the Henoko relocation
Party leader Ogawa said that Prime Minister Takaichi’s dissolution of the House of Representatives this time has “no justification.
Also, he clearly stated that if he were to take power, he would not allow such unjustified dissolutions.
We felt that Party leader Ogawa lacked the necessary qualifications, not only as a party leader but also as a member of the Diet.
Under the Ishiba administration, the LDP suffered crushing defeats in both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors elections. The Takaichi administration took over with a Diet composition that reflected those results.
As a result, many committee chair positions were held by the opposition parties. Under these circumstances, it is expected that Prime Minister Takaichi’s ability to implement her policies will be significantly hampered.
Prime Minister Takaichi’s high approval rating is an expression of support from people who resonate with her policies.
Prime Minister Takaichi has decided to govern with the Diet composition that has earned the trust of the people in order to implement future policies.
Therefore, she has made it clear that if she loses, she will resign not only as Prime Minister but also as LDP president.
Party leader Ogawa’s view is no different from declaring that “there is no need to listen to the people’s voices, and the government should be run based only on the Prime Minister’s personal views.” In other words, Party Leader Ogawa is essentially stating that members of the Diet are not representatives of the people.
Under the new leadership of party leader Ogawa, the Centrist Reform Alliance has effectively returned its political position from a liberal stance to that of a left-wing party.
No former Komeito members ran in the leadership election. This suggests that even former Komeito members agreed with the Centrist Reform Coalition’s shift from a liberal stance to a left-wing party.
This momentum has existed since the establishment of the Centrist Reform Alliance and the joining of the Constitutional Democratic Party(hereinafter called CDP) of Japan members.
As a condition for joining the Centrist Reform Alliance, CDP members had to agree to several fundamental policies aligned with Komeito, such as “the security legislation is constitutional” and “the restart of nuclear power plants.”
Regarding the Henoko relocation, former co-leader Tetsuo Saito declared that “the Henoko relocation is necessary even for the Centrist Reform Alliance,” clearly following the Komeito’s line.
However, during a party leaders’ debate in the midst of the election campaign, then-co-leader Noda explained that they would make a decision after the election. In other words, the Centrist Reform Alliance chose the dirty tactic of not announcing any policies that might be politically inconvenient during the election.
We are astonished by the attitude of the Centrist Reform Coalition, which boldly declares “the Centrist Reform Coalition will decide on its policies after the election”, despite simultaneously criticizing the LDP that has publicly released its platform and policy pamphlets in collaboration with the old media for having no policies.
Party leader Ogawa continues to say that we should remain cautious about the relocation to Henoko. The word “cautious” is a bit difficult in Japanese, but it essentially means he does not support it.
In other words, the Centrist Reform Alliance has completely reversed its fundamental policies.
There are several reasons why the Centrist Reform Alliance seems to have shifted toward the left-wing parties, in addition to its stance on the Henoko relocation.
The stance of the Centrist Reform Alliance in this Diet session feels exactly the same as that of the CDP.By joining forces with the old media to cherry-pick and criticize a portion of Prime Minister Takaichi’s “work, work, work, work, work” statement while criticizing LDP cabinet members for watching the WBC during their personal time, they are clearly applying a double standard. It seems their only goal is to criticize.
Also, despite having criticized the LDP’s handling of money in politics and even submitting a bill to ban political fundraising parties, the party has now completely reversed course and is advocating for the promotion of such parties after suffering a crushing defeat in the election and running out of political funds.
Because criticizing the LDP has become their fundamental policy, they have lost sight of their own contradictions.
Reference: the Mainichi Newspapers (2026/02/14)
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20260120/ddm/005/010/094000c
Reference: JCAST NEWS (2026/02/14)
https://www.j-cast.com/2026/01/19511150.html?p=all
Reference: The Chunichi Shinbun (2026/02/14)
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/467703
Reference: NIKKEI (2026/02/18)
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUA09A3N0Z00C26A2000000
Reference: NIKKEI (2026/02/19)
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUA180RZ0Y4A510C2000000
Reference: The Sankei Shinbun (2026/01/29)
https://www.sankei.com/article/20260122-PWAP2JC6EVBIHOQ3U5AB5E67WI
Reference: The Sankei Shinbun (2026/02/19)
https://www.sankei.com/article/20260213-P76DGUVBZVDUTLXGFQIXWQ4HSM
Reference: The Yomiuri Shinbun Online (2026/01/28)
https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/shugiin/20260125-GYT1T00114
https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/shugiin/20260118-GYT1T00116
Reference: The Yomiuri Shinbun Online (2026/02/20)
https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/shugiin/20260209-GYT1T00472
Reference: The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (2026/02/19)
https://cdp-japan.jp/news/20240520_7774
Reference: The Asahi Shinbun (2026/02/19)
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASV3F2VZ5V3FUQIP00MM.html
https://www.sankei.com/article/20260312-XMRG7C35ZRKFXAI6HAOKR6PY2Y
Thanks.
2026/03/15