An extraordinary parliamentary session kicked off Monday with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida making economic policies — from measures to tackle inflation and a weaker yen, to raising wages and investing in growing industries — the first and foremost priority.
It was thought the three years after Kishida's win in the Upper House election in July would have been “golden years” for him, as the lack of national-level elections would allow the prime minister to push through his “new capitalism” agenda without needing to worry about appeasing voters.
But Kishida’s plunging approval ratings and the opposition's determination to grill him over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s ties with the controversial Unification Church mean that the parliamentary session is expected to be anything but smooth sailing.