Japan Ordinary Diet Session Likely to Begin Jan. 24

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)--Japan's government and ruling parties are considering convening next year's ordinary session of the Diet, the country's parliament, on Jan. 24, 2025, ruling party sources said Thursday.
 

The session will run for 150 days until June 22. If the session is not extended, the next election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, is likely to be held on July 20, with its official campaign period starting July 3.
 

Discussions on the schedules apparently take into account Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's possible visit to Indonesia and Malaysia, expected for early January, and trip to the United States, likely in mid-January, to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
 

The public offices election law stipulates that an Upper House election be held within 30 days before the expiration of member lawmakers' term.
 

However, if the 30-day period overlaps a Diet session or a 23-day period from the end of a Diet session, the Upper House election takes place 24 to 30 days after the session's closing day.
 

The term of the Upper House members whose seats will be contested in the next election will expire July 28. As a national election is usually held on a Sunday, the next Upper House poll is expected to take place July 20.
 

However, there are concerns about low voter turnout as July 20 falls in the middle of a three-day weekend. If the Diet session is extended until June 27 or later, the Upper House election will be held on July 27 at the earliest.
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