Japan elections today returned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party with an increased two-thirds majority in the Lower House.

Never mind the debt feel the majority!

From here:

NHK projects LDP has secured a two-thirds majority in the Lower House | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

“NHK projections also show that two smaller opposition parties, Sanseito and Team Mirai, are making gains. The largest opposition party, the Centrist Reform Alliance, may lose around half its seats.”

Japa is a basket case resulting from decades of deficits and debt:

From Brave AI:

“The high debt level is driven by persistent fiscal deficits, aging population pressures, and large public spending—particularly on social security and defense. Despite the high ratio, Japan’s debt is largely financed domestically, with the Bank of Japan holding a significant portion of government bonds at low interest rates, which helps maintain fiscal stability.

The central bank monetizes as much of government borrowing as it can:

“The BOJ’s dominant position in the JGB market is a result of its prolonged monetary easing and yield curve control (YCC) policies, which have involved massive purchases of government bonds to stimulate economic growth and maintain low long-term interest rates. Despite this, foreign investors have also increased their holdings, reaching 14.1% of the total JGB market by December 2022, indicating growing international interest in JGBs as high-quality collateral.

The BOJ has only just ended its (NIRP) (negative interest rate policy and ZIRP (zero interest rate policy) plus its policy of ‘direct manipulation of ten year government bond yields at preset levels.

“As of June 2024, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) held 53.2% of outstanding Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs), according to Statista data. This figure represents a record high, consistent with the BOJ’s ongoing large-scale asset purchase program. The BOJ’s holdings have grown significantly since the launch of its quantitative and qualitative monetary easing (QQE) in 2013, increasing from around 11.5% in 2013 to over 53% by mid-2024.

Japanese Government Bond Yields (and the Japanese yen have sold off – a lot, in the last year or so:

“Since 2024, Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) and the yen have undergone a dramatic transformation, marking a pivotal shift from decades of ultra-loose monetary policy. The 10-year JGB yield, which was near zero under YCC, rose to 2.09% by December 2025, its highest since 1999.

Assuming a ten year duration, this means that holders – such as the BOJ have lost around 20 per cent in price In the last year or so – this is a book entry with no consequences for anyone – ‘funny money.’

“Japan’s national government debt reached $9.01 trillion USD in September 2025, according to CEIC Data. Half of the losses of which were made by the BOJ – which has zero balance sheet equity.

20 per cent of those losses aregetting on forUS$2 trillion with over a trillion in losses at the central bank. “The size of Japan’s economy, measured by nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was approximately $4.03 trillion in 2024.

Half the annual output of the entire economy lost because of the rise in yields.

You would think thee would be a national emergency!

Instead we have this from the NHK article:

“Most parties are in favor of reducing the consumption tax, such as reducing the tax on food items to zero, or to 5 percent, or reducing the tax on all items to 5 percent. The LDP has also campaigned for a consumption tax cut.”

The exact opposite.

From Brave AI:

“The consolidated fiscal balance is projected to be -4.6% of nominal GDP for the fiscal year ending March 2026, up from -7.1% in the prior year.

A reduction of 2.5 per cent of GDP ad not ‘up from -7.1% in the prior year.’

Nonetheless, Japan must run FISCAL SURPLUSES of around 5 per cent of GDP for 20 years to put its fiscal position in some kind of order. (The Us and UK must similarly run fiscal surpluses of 3 per cent for two decades.

For Jap, the need for a per cent fiscal surplus can be stood up against its government spending.

“Japan’s government spending as a percentage of GDP was 21.57% in 2022, according to TheGlobalEconomy.com, based on World Bank data.

Turning a 5 per cent fiscal deficit into a five per cent fiscal surplus by cutting government spnding requires a reduction n spending from 22per cent to 6 per cent – a cut of 73 per cent in government spending!!!

( or increase in taxes!

“Japan’s tax revenue as a percentage of GDP was 14.07% in 2022, according to the World Bank.

Japan could increase taxation to 19 per cent of GDP – an increase in taxes of3 per cent.

Or somewhere between the two.

Of course there are many other factors – like this:

(100) Japan - land of the setting sun – soon to open for migrants from the West with a little money?

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