Japan's Lower House approves security cameras for Diet building

The House of Representatives will begin installing security cameras throughout the Diet building in fiscal 2027. The move follows a 2021 incident in which a government employee secretly filmed a woman in a restroom, prompting calls for broader surveillance.

A Lower House Steering Committee panel voted unanimously in June to place cameras in the main building, an annex, and at entrances and corridors, while waiting rooms for each party will remain unmonitored. The exact number of cameras and total cost have yet to be set; a 2015 estimate was ¥180 million for 66 units.

Lawmakers expressed mixed reactions. A veteran Liberal Democratic Party member warned that increased monitoring could hinder discreet political activity, while opposition Centrist Reform Alliance’s acting Diet affairs chief Yasuhiro Nakagawa stressed the need to “guarantee freedom of political activities.” The upper chamber has not taken action on the proposal.