JIP Lawmaker Takashi Endo Is the ‘Glue’ the Holds the LDP-JIP Coalition Together

By Michitaka Kaiya

8:00 JST, November 29, 2025

A House of Representatives member playing an unusual dual role is making his presence felt in the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. It is Takashi Endo, Diet affairs committee chairman of the Japan Innovation Party, who has been appointed as a special adviser to the prime minister. Endo played a pivotal role in forming the new coalition government by connecting Takaichi, who is president of the Liberal Democratic Party, with JIP leader Hirofumi Yoshimura, when the two did not even have each other’s mobile phone numbers.

Upon joining the coalition, the JIP declined the prime minister’s request to also join her Cabinet, opting instead for “out-of-cabinet cooperation.” As the sole JIP lawmaker within the government, Endo stated, “I have a responsibility as the glue holding [the LDP and the JIP] together,” signaling his resolve to support the administration. His role as adviser focuses on “achieving the realization of policies outlined in the coalition agreement,” giving him the weighty responsibility of advancing policies in a broad range of areas.

It is unusual for someone to concurrently serve as a special adviser while also holding a post such as Diet affairs committee chairman, which involves behind-the-scenes coordination between ruling and opposition parties on managing Diet affairs. However, the JIP was unable to find anyone comparable to Endo, who served as its Diet affairs committee chairman for a long period from 2015 to 2024 and resumed the role after the House of Councillors election in July, so he continues as the party’s Diet affairs committee chairman as well.

Consequently, Endo has assumed a position coordinating policy decisions between the Prime Minister’s Office, the LDP and the JIP. In his chairman role, he also serves as a key negotiator with opposition parties — crucial for managing Diet affairs under a minority ruling party. Senior government officials view him as “a key figure in governing the administration.”

The source of Endo’s power lies in the extensive network he has built across ruling and opposition parties, as well as government ministries and agencies. He has forged strong ties with figures who, like him, served long tenures as Diet affairs committee chairs, such as former LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama and Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Jun Azumi.

When the JIP was an opposition party, Endo frequently acted as a mediator between the LDP and the CDPJ, seeking common ground on managing Diet affairs. Endo freely accessed both the LDP headquarters and the LDP’s Diet affairs committee office within the National Diet building. A veteran LDP lawmaker noted, “Endo is a tough negotiator, but he excels at presenting compromise proposals that save face for all parties involved and bringing them together.”

Toru Hashimoto, founder of the JIP, described Endo as “a magician when it comes to building relationships.”

Illustrating the breadth of his network, Endo had built relationships in which he communicates by mobile phone with eight of the nine candidates who ran in the LDP presidential election of September 2024, including Takaichi. The sole candidate with no link to Endo was Shigeru Ishiba, who won that election and became prime minister despite being known for his poor interpersonal skills. While Takaichi herself is not particularly proactive in maintaining relationships with fellow lawmakers, Endo continued to cultivate their friendship, including by having a meal with her in Osaka this summer, before she won the LDP presidential election held in October this year.

This extensive network facilitated the coalition agreement between the LDP and the JIP. On Oct. 9, the day before Komeito announced its withdrawal from the coalition, Endo sent a text message expressing concern about the situation to Takaichi. Takaichi responded, and negotiations on the coalition began moving forward.

Though known for his closeness to the LDP, Endo was previously expelled from the party. In 2012, while serving as the LDP’s branch chief for Osaka Constituency No. 18 in the lower house, Endo submitted his resignation from the party and joined the JIP’s predecessor, formed by Hashimoto, who was then mayor of Osaka, and others. He was expelled from the LDP for running in the House of Representatives election that same year as a candidate of the JIP’s predecessor.

However, after winning reelection, he deepened his trust-based relationships with figures like Yoshihide Suga, who served as chief cabinet secretary in the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before becoming prime minister himself. Endo worked diligently to build cooperative ties between the LDP and JIP.

Although called a “magician,” Endo built his network not through cunning tactics but through the steady accumulation of daily activities. Beyond wining and dining with ruling and opposition lawmakers and bureaucrats, he frequently hosts parties in his room at the lower house members’ residence in Akasaka, serving the famous Osaka dish takoyaki. Lawmakers and bureaucrats contacted by Endo show up one after another, creating a social hub where new connections form.

Endo tells those around him, “If you only try to talk when something happens, things won’t move forward,” emphasizing the importance of building relationships through daily interactions.

Yoshimura, the JIP leader, advocates for politics centered on transparent policy debates. He views “eating-and-drinking politics” and “National Diet affairs committee politics” as outdated styles and is critical of them. Even within the LDP, the behind-the-scenes role of Diet affairs committee factions is waning. That said, politics cannot advance through public debates alone.

Within the LDP-JIP coalition government, trial and error regarding policy decisions continues. Consequently, within the government and ruling coalition, there are high expectations for Endo’s coordination skills honed through his Diet affairs experience.

Regarding the electricity and gas subsidies for winter included in the comprehensive economic measures decided by the Cabinet on Nov. 21, Endo directly negotiated with Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Takayuki Kobayashi on Nov. 18 to secure an increase, settling on an amount acceptable to the JIP.

The role of a prime minister’s special adviser varies greatly depending on the distance from the prime minister and the adviser’s political clout, sometimes ending up as a largely ceremonial position. In this regard, Endo is close to the prime minister, who trusts him, saying, “He is my voice.”

How this unique workhorse, Endo, will move forward is being closely watched by both ruling and opposition parties, as it could determine the fate of the coalition government.

Political Pulse appears every Saturday.

Michitaka Kaiya

Michitaka Kaiya is a deputy editor in the Political News Department of The Yomiuri Shimbun.