VOTING UNDERWAY IN CRUCIAL JAPAN ELECTIONS AS PREMIER TAKAICHI SEEKS FRESH MANDATE

Sun 08 February 2026:

Japan has voted in a snap general election called by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, just three months after she assumed office.

Takaichi is banking on her popularity to help boost the fortunes of the Liberal Democratic Party, which currently governs through a fragile coalition.

Opinion polls have suggested the LDP and its ally could secure more than 300 seats as Takaichi advocates for increased defence spending and a more assertive approach towards China.

Polls closed at 11:00 GMT and the exit poll results are expected shortly.

With heavy snowfall feared to affect voter turnout in some areas, voting began at 7 am (2200GMT Saturday), Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

The lower chamber was dissolved last month by Takaichi to seek a new public mandate for her premiership.

Japan is holding this election in February for the first time in 36 years, a move by Takaichi that has invited criticism because heavy snowfall in several parts of the country made campaigning difficult.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its allied Japan Innovative Party look set for a big win in the election, with three media polls showing the alliance likely to win 300 of the 465 seats.

The Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA), jointly formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and Komeito last month, could lose more than half of the 167 seats the two parties held before the election.

Smaller parties such as Sanseito and Team Mirai are gaining ground, all three polls showed, while the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) could end up with about the same number of seats it went into the election with.

A Yomiuri Shimbun poll conducted last week showed that the LDP continued to gain momentum in the final days before Sunday’s election and is poised to grab over 233 seats needed for a simple majority.

Takaichi, who became Japan’s first female prime minister last October, has pledged to resign if the coalition fails to secure a majority in the lower house.

Even if the ruling bloc manages to meet its target of securing a majority in the lower house, it still faces hurdles in the House of Councillors, or the upper house, where it remains a minority.

In that case, opposition party support will be critical in passing bills.

The LDP must win at least 310 seats, or two-thirds of the whole, to achieve its long-held goal of amending the Constitution.

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What to know about Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female PM

The ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi, who took office as Japan’s first female leader in October, pledged to “work, work, work”, and her style, which is seen as both playful and tough, has resonated with younger fans.

An admirer of the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi has been referred to in the media as Japan’s “Iron Lady” for her similarly conservative bent.

Takaichi has harnessed the power of social media and become an unlikely fashion icon, with fans clamouring to buy the bag she carries and the pink pen she scribbles with.

Voting underway in crucial Japan elections as Premier Takaichi seeks fresh mandate

She supports the imperial family’s male-only succession and opposes same-sex marriage as well as amending the 19th-century law requiring married couples to have the same surname, under which most women are pressured into abandoning theirs.

Feminists are not happy and say Takaichi’s leadership is a setback for Japanese gender equality.

Takaichi has admitted she doesn’t like drinking parties and would much rather study at home, though she tried to socialise more to build connections with colleagues after her two unsuccessful leadership bids.

The latest surveys indicated a landslide win in the lower house for the LDP. The opposition, despite the formation of a new centrist alliance and a rising far-right, is seen as too splintered to be a real challenger.

Japan election in numbers

Below are some facts and figures about Japan’s election:

More than 104 million registered voters are eligible to vote in the polls.
Early voting took place between January 28 and February 7, with more than 20 million voters casting ballots during the 10 days.
More than 1,270 candidates are competing for 465 seats in the House of Representatives.
The election covers 289 constituencies, while the remaining 176 seats are allocated across 11 proportional representation blocs.
A party or coalition needs at least 233 seats to elect a prime minister.
If it secures 261 seats, dubbed an absolute stable majority, it can control parliamentary committees, easing the passage of legislation, including key budget proposals.

Who’s running in Japan’s snap elections, and what’s at stake?

The elections were called by popular Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. She is a member of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and became Japan’s first female prime minister in October.
More than 1,200 candidates are running for the 465 seats in the House of Representatives. They are from the LDP, the new Centrist Reform Alliance, the Japan Innovation Party, the Democratic Party for the People, the Japanese Communist Party and the Conservative Party of Japan among others.
The rising cost of living is front and centre in this election.
Another election concern for some conservative parties is the role of foreigners in a rapidly ageing society.
The elections are a significant test for the governing LDP, the party that has led Japan almost continuously since the end of World War II but that has been rocked by a series of corruption scandals.
A victory in the lower house would help Takaichi push forward with her agenda of economic reform and expanding Japan’s defences.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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