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Voters in Japan are heading to the polls this weekend for a snap election held by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who became Japan’s first female prime minister in October last year.
Although Takaichi has only been in power for a few months, he is hugely popular in Japan and hopes to use that goodwill to increase seats for his conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the House of Representatives.
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Here’s what you need to know:
When will elections be held? Who will participate?
The upcoming vote will take place on Sunday, February 8th, across all 465 seats in the House of Commons. According to Japanese broadcaster NHK World, there are more than 1,200 candidates on the ballot.
Participating parties include the Liberal Democratic Party, the New Centrist Reform Alliance, the Japan Restoration Party, the Democratic Party of the People, the Japanese Communist Party, and the Japanese Conservative Party.
There are approximately 105 million registered voters in Japan. Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced on Monday that more than 4.5 million people have already participated in early voting.
What are the main issues in this election?
The rising cost of living is at the center of this election. Consumer prices are on the rise, but real wage growth has lagged behind inflation, so salaries are not growing as fast as they once did.
Japan also has a long-standing problem of slowing economic growth. The economy grew by just 1.1% last year and is expected to grow by just 0.7% in 2026, according to the IMF. The “Goldilocks” rate of economic growth that is considered healthy for developed countries is 2% to 3%.
Political parties are campaigning on various strategies to address economic concerns, including reducing Japan’s consumption tax and reviewing income tax rates. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party wants to stimulate economic growth, but some opposition parties are calling for expanded welfare, and some, like the Nippon Ishin no Kai, are pushing for deregulation.
Another electoral concern for some political parties is the role of foreigners in a rapidly aging society. Foreign residents, expected to exceed 2.5 million by 2025, are likely to fill a large employment gap, but they are also changing the face of Japan’s once largely homogeneous society, to the chagrin of more conservative voters.
The Liberal Democratic Party supports “selective” immigration of foreign workers to fill certain labor shortages. However, immigration regulations have been tightened.
What is at issue in this election?
This election will be an important test for the Liberal Democratic Party government.
The party has led Japan almost continuously since World War II, but has suffered a serious setback in opinion polls in recent years due to a series of corruption scandals. The party lost its majority in both houses of Congress, but is hoping for a comeback.
Party members were involved in a long-running slush fund scandal over allegations of misappropriation of campaign funds, and former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was the target of internal conflict.
In October, Takaichi won the post of prime minister through the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership election, making her mark in history as Japan’s first female prime minister. Mr. Takaichi has a very high approval rating in recent opinion polls, but he still maintains a coalition government with the Japan Restoration Party. If the Liberal Democratic Party wins now, her position as prime minister will be strengthened.
What are Mr. Takaichi’s plans?
A victory in the House of Representatives will help Takaichi advance his agenda of economic reform and Japan’s defense expansion.
She also wants to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution, something that has never been done before, citing security concerns such as potential conflict between China, the United States and Taiwan.
The United States is a treaty ally of Japan, and Taiwan is very popular with the Japanese public and geographically close to Japan’s remote islands.
In November, Takaichi infuriated China by telling Japanese lawmakers that if China were to use force against Taiwan, which it considers part of its territory, the move would pose an “existential crisis” for Japan and could justify a military response from the Japanese government.
