Please join GR Japan to discuss Japan’s upcoming House of Representatives election.
 
Prime Minister Abe dissolved the Diet today for a snap election of the House of Representatives, widely expected to take place on 22 October.  Abe’s decision comes just weeks after support for his Cabinet hit its lowest levels, after a summer of controversy and scandal.  He hoped to catch the opposition off guard, gambling that the bounce in support since his Cabinet reshuffle in early August will see him through the election campaign. 
 
Abe has called for a fresh mandate for his leadership, his growth and reform plans, and his handling of recent missile tests from North Korea.  He has also pledged to spend ¥2 trillion out of ¥4 trillion tax revenue from the scheduled 2019 consumption tax hike on child care and free education, instead of shoring up Japan’s public finances. 
 
Voters now have their chance to give their verdict on Abe’s plans, his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and on opposition parties that have responded to the snap election with surprises of their own.
 
How will Abe’s gambit be affected by the lightning merger of the Democratic Party and Yuriko Koike’s new Party of Hope?  What will the new party stand for, will it appeal to voters, and will it be able to hold together?  Will the LDP and the LDP-Komeito coalition retain their simple and super majorities, and what difference would losing them make to policy and politics?
 
GR Japan’s election special, led by Jakob Edberg, will seek to answer these questions, analysing the latest data and forecasts, and parsing the potential impact on business and the economy.

Date:          Tuesday, 17 October
Time:          6:30pm - 8:00pm  (Doors open at 6:00pm)
*Drinks and light refreshments will be served.
 
Note:  The event will be on the record, and the discussion will be in English, without Japanese interpretation.