LDP's new President Takaichi Sanae meets the press on October 10, 2025 after the head of Japan's Komeito has told the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that his party will quit the ruling coalition. Photo: IC

The head of Japan's Komeito has told the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that his party will quit the ruling coalition. This will bring an end to a partnership that has lasted more than a quarter of a century, NHK reported on Friday. 

Komeito Chief Representative Saito Tetsuo met with the LDP's new President Takaichi Sanae on Friday afternoon. He said that the LDP failed to provide sufficient answers regarding political funding issues, according to the Japanese media report. 

Komeito has urged the LDP to adopt a proposal of restricting the channels of corporate and organizational donations, per NHK. 

Komeito’s decision to end the 26-year partnership with the LDP means the ruling party will need to court opposition parties — likely the Democratic Party for the People or Nippon Ishin no Kai, or both — to vote Takaichi in as prime minister in the upcoming parliamentary session to be convened later this month, the Japan Times said. 

Saito declared that Komeito will not only dissolve the coalition with the LDP, but it will also terminate future election cooperation with the party, the Japanese media Asahi said. 

For Lower House single-seat districts, Komeito will not endorse LDP candidates or seek endorsements from the LDP for its candidates, he said, according to the Japanese media report. 

In the Lower House, the LDP holds 196 seats, 37 short of a majority, while Komeito has 24 seats. The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan has 148 seats, Asahi reported. 

If no candidate for prime minister gains a majority of votes, a runoff will be held between the two frontrunners. In the event of a disagreement between the two Diet chambers, the Lower House decision will prevail, the Japanese media said. 

Kyodo News said Komeito's departure has cast uncertainty over the future of Takaichi expected to become Japan's first female leader.

As Komeito has long maintained friendly ties with China, attention is now on how the hawkish Takaichi, known for her hard-line stance on history and national security, will handle relations with neighboring countries, including South Korea, Kyodo News said. 

When asked about Komeito’s withdraw from the ruling collation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Friday that “this is Japan’s internal affair. China has no comment.”


“This decision will have a profound impact on Japan’s political landscape. On one hand, it will make the selection of Japan’s next prime minister more unpredictable. On the other hand, it will bring greater uncertainty to the country’s future political operations,” Chen Yang, visiting research fellow at the Institute of Japan Studies at Liaoning University, told the Global Times on Friday. 

As the Komeito Party has withdrawn from the ruling coalition with the LDP, and the LDP is now a “minority ruling party” in both houses of the Diet, a direct consequence will inevitably be that future parliamentary deliberations on legislation and the budget will become more protracted and inefficient, Chen said.