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Unkei Katsuragi (born 1981) was Prime Minister of Japan from 2 April 2018 to 7 December 2020, preceding Sorai Rakuyama. A former bank executive, Katsuragi's premiership was marked by steady economic growth, the expansion of public services, the expansion of the House of Representatives from 40 to 70 seats, and a conservative wave in Japanese politics (with the conservative coalition increasing its share of the vote even after the Diet was expanded to better represent the smaller left-of-center parties). However, the Chiziwa-Otake scandal of 11 March 2019 damaged the ruling LDP's popularity and led to a CDP landslide at the 22 July 2019 elections, with the CDP becoming the largest single party in the House and the LDP falling to second place. Katsuragi continued on as Prime Minister with the support of the other center-right and right-wing parties, but, by 2020, the economy was in decline due to a combination of expanded public services and tax cuts. His party lost another election in March, falling even deeper into second place, but he continued to head a minority government with the help of his coalition partners and some independent voters from the left-of-center parties. The recession worsened in mid-2020 and threatened to become a depression, causing a left-wing landslide at the 23 November 2020 general election, reducing the LDP to fifth place. In an upset, Komeito leader Sorai Rakuyama won the support of the greatly-depleted right, as well as the Social Democratic Party of Japan, to form a big tent coalition.

Biography[]

Unkei Katsuragi was born in Okayama, Japan in 1981, and he worked in the banking industry before entering politics with the national conservative Liberal Democratic Party. He went on to be elected to the House of Representatives, and he became his party's leader ahead of the 2018 general election. On 19 March 2018, his party won 25% of the vote and 10/40 seats in the National Diet, ahead of the Constitutional Democratic Party's 6 seats, Komeito's 5 seats, the Japanese Communist Party's 5 seats, the Social Democratic Party's 4 seats, the Nippon Ishin no Kai's 4 seats, the Democratic Party for the People's 4 seats, and Kibō no Tō's 2 seats. On 2 April 2018, Katsuragi was appointed Prime Minister with the support of 25/40 Dietmen, while 14 voted in favor of CDP leader Tekkan Furusawa.

Premiership[]

Katsuragi presided over a National Diet which had a conservative majority; the LDP, Kibo no To, Nippon Ishin no Kai, and Komeito held 21/40 seats in the House of Representatives, while the rift between the liberal CDP and its liberal-conservative splintergroup, the DPFP, led to the DPFP supporting Katsuragi's government. On 9 April 2018, the House passed its first new law, an expansion of the House from 40 to 70 seats, proposed by Leader of the Opposition Tekkan Furusawa to ensure a more accurate representation of the parties' vote shares in the number of representatives they elected to the Diet. The House voted 36-3 to implement public housing on 7 May, 29-5 to create a bus transport service on 2 July, 35-1 to approve agriculture research on 9 July, 23-5 to keep the agricultural subsidy on 23 July, 31-7 against abolishing the monarchy on 20 August, 24-8 in favor of a school bus tax on 27 August, 24-8 in favor of a housing tax on 3 September, and 25-8 in favor of public libraries on 29 October 2018.

On 19 November 2018, new elections were held for the 70-seat House of Representatives. The LDP increased its share of the vote to 25.21% and 18/70 seats, the CDP rose to 17.3% and 12/70 seats, the NKP rose to 13.88% and 10/70 seats, the JCP fell to 10.44% and 7/70 seats, the SDP fell to 10.42% and 7/70 seats, the NIK rose to 10.23% and 7/70 seats, the DPFP fell to 7.63% and 5/70 seats, and Kibo fell to 4.88% and 4/70 seats. The LDP coalition continued to hold a four-seat majority in the House of Representatives as all of the left-of-center parties apart from the CDP fell in popularity, attributed to the ¥179 million budget and its projected weekly increase of ¥5 million. On 3 December 2018, Katsuragi was granted a second mandate to lead by a margin of 43-26.

By the first week of 2019, the budget had risen to ¥207 million, with a weekly increase of ¥3 million. On 28 January 2019, the House voted 61-3 to approve retirement homes. On 25 February 2019, the parties each held fundraisers, with the LDP raising ¥158 million, the CDP ¥114 million, the NKP ¥95 million, the JCP ¥87 million, Nippon Ishin no Kai ¥74 million, the SDP ¥71 million, the DPFP ¥56 million, and Kibo no To ¥41 million. On 11 March, the LDP lawmakers Oharu Otake and Hiro Chiziwa were implicated in a corruption scandal, and, that same day, the Diet voted 51-5 to legalize gambling. A week later, the Diet voted 51-7 to enact a road maintenance program. On 1 July, the Diet voted 34-29 to keep the school bus tax, and, a week later, the Diet voted 31-16 to narrow down the National Diet's research debate choices to two topics.

On 22 July 2019, new elections were held in which the ramifications of the Chiziwa-Otake scandal were felt by the ruling LDP party. The CDP won 20.82% of the vote and 14/70 seats, the LDP fell to 17.4% and 12/70 seats, the NKP fell to 13.82% and 10/70 seats, the JCP rose to 12.82% and 9/70 seats, the SDP rose to 11.87% and 8/70 seats, Nippon Ishin no Kai fell to 9.94% and 7/70 seats, the DPFP rose to 7.96% and 6/70 seats, and Kibo no To rose to 5.37% and 4/70 seats. This saw the LDP governing coalition lose its majority, although the DPFP remained a key swing vote, and factionalism among the left and right made the next government formation a tossup. On 5 August 2019, Katsuragi won 38 votes to Furusawa's 29 (continuing to enjoy the support of the LDP coalition and the rebellious DPFP), ensuring that his government would continue on despite his party's humiliating loss.

On 12 August, the Diet voted 33-28 to abolish the income tax, causing the budget of ¥213 million to start declining at a weekly rate of ¥1 million. On 2 September 2019, Katsuragi's close ally, DPFP leader Sadayoshi Mitsue, died of a sudden heart attack, and he was succeeded by Miiko Tanimoto. A week later, the Diet voted 62-1 in favor of a government-sponsored scholarship. On 25 November, the Diet voted 34-18 to approve sex education, and, a week later, 45-16 against abolishing the housing tax. A week later, the Diet voted 68-1 to keep the two-party system of parliamentary democracy. By the turn of 2020, the economy had fallen to ¥167 million with a weekly decline of ¥3 million. On 27 January 2020, a flood struck Japan, worsening the economic situation. A week later, the CDP raised the most funds of any party with ¥189 million, followed by the LDP with ¥141 million, the JCP with ¥110 million, the NKP with ¥102 million, the SDP with ¥95 million, the DPFP with ¥81 million, Nippon Ishin no Kai with ¥72 million, and Kibo no To with ¥48 million.

On 23 March 2020, new elections were held, and the conservative coalition suffered further losses. The CDP rose to 23.67% and 17/70 seats, the LDP fell to 15.71% and 11/70 seats, the NKP fell to 13.3% and 9/70 seats, the JCP rose to 13.2% and 9/70 seats, the SDP fell to 11.25% and 8/70 seats, the NIK fell to 9.1% and 7/70 seats, the DPFP rose to 8.97% and 6/70 seats, and Kibo no To fell to 4.8% and 3/70 seats. Newly-elected CDP representative Takehide Wakatsuchi rather quickly defected to Nippon Ishin no Kai for unknown reasons, a harbinger of the center-left factionalism to come. On 6 April 2020, when the lawmakers came together to vote for a new government, 35 voted in favor of Katsuragi's continued governance, while 30 voted in favor of Furusawa. Thus, Katsuragi continued to govern the country as the head of a minority government. By then, the economy had fallen to ¥119 million, with a continued weekly decline of ¥3 million.

On 27 April 2020, the Diet voted 49-8 to keep gambling legal, and, a week later, 42-13 to keep the school bus tax. The Diet also voted 62-2 to keep the 3% electoral threshold, 64-2 to set a limit of two terms for prime ministers, 48-10 in favor of a new income tax (by then, the economy had fallen to ¥32 million, with a weekly decline of ¥3 million), 40-15 to keep the government scholarship, 60-4 to implement a government ambulance service, and 39-18 to keep the housing tax. On 23 November 2020, new elections were held, and the CDP rose to 24.93% and 18/70 seats, the NKP rose to 14.68% and 10/70 seats, the JCP rose to 13.95% and 10/70 seats, the SDP rose to 12.87% and 9/70 seats, the LDP fell to 11.82% and 8/70 seats, the NIK fell to 9.04% and 6/70 seats, the DPFP fell to 8.6% and 6/70 seats, and Kibo fell to 4.11% and 3/70 seats. The center-left alliance won 37/70 seats, and the LDP slid into fifth place, with Komeito being the only right-wing party among the top four parties. In the ensuing premiership election, Komeito leader Sorai Rakuyama was able to form a government in a vote of 37-32 in an upset defeat for the CDP, whose leader Tekkan Furusawa had not counted on the SDP betraying him in favor of Komeito.

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