Japan Decides Its Role in the Global Economy: Trade and Economic Security in the 2024 Election

This chapter analyzes how Japanese political parties navigated trade policy and economic security in the 2024 general election, revealing both broad consensus and subtle ideological divides. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Kōmeitō coalition advanced policies that continued to institutionalize economic security policies, emphasizing these even over more typical trade agreements and policies. Opposition parties from across the spectrum largely endorsed similar objectives, differing mainly on implementation strategies and sectoral priorities. Using party platforms, manifestos, and official statements to trace how key actors framed trade, industrial policy, and national resilience, the chapter highlights how Japan has embraced a dual approach, maintaining leadership in regional trade integration through agreements like the CPTPP and RCEP, while simultaneously strengthening domestic capacity in semiconductors, critical materials, and emerging technologies. Although smaller parties from both the right and left, such as Ishin, Reiwa, and the Japanese Communist Party, challenged the prevailing consensus with critiques that ranged from nationalist hawkishness to concerns about state overreach, the election reinforced the status quo on economic security and trade. The chapter concludes that Japan’s strategy of pragmatic engagement in global markets, tempered by targeted economic security measures, is likely to persist. Moreover, as the United States becomes a less predictable economic partner, Japan is potentially positioned to take on a greater leadership role in shaping the international economic order.