LDP Draft Would Allow Tablets in Japan's Lower House Chamber

A Liberal Democratic Party panel has drafted a proposal that would allow tablet devices in the plenary chamber of Japan's House of Representatives. The "Lower House Reform Project Team" under the party's political system reform headquarters, chaired by lawmaker Masaaki Taira, put the draft together on October 29.

Under the draft, tablets would be permitted in the chamber. However, lawmakers asking questions and those answering them would not be allowed to use devices with communication functions, a restriction meant to prevent outside interference.

Team Mirai welcomes the move

Takahiro Anno, leader of the party Team Mirai, had pushed for lifting the ban. On the same day, he shared a news report on the draft on X with the post "Uoooooo," signaling his approval. Other opposition parties, including the Democratic Party for the People and the Constitutional Democratic Party, have also proposed allowing tablets.

Anno drew attention shortly after his first election to the House of Councillors in July 2025, when he said on a TV program that PCs and tablets were not allowed in the Diet because they were reportedly seen as lacking dignity. In July 2026, a cross-party study group on AI and democracy, which he co-chairs with Taira, compiled a proposal asking for PCs and tablets to be allowed in the plenary sessions of both houses and submitted it to the presiding officers of both chambers.

A narrower scope than requested

The LDP team invited Anno to its first meeting on October 22 to hear an explanation of that proposal. The study group's version, however, had asked that communication functions also be usable during questioning and answering. The LDP draft stops short of that, keeping those functions off limits for the people directly involved in the exchange.

The draft is a proposal from a party panel, and the material does not say when or whether it will become a formal rule. Even so, it marks a step toward modernizing how Japan's legislature handles digital tools in its main chamber.