Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ruling camp swept to a historic election win, securing 316 of 465 seats for her Liberal Democratic Party and, with coalition partner Japan Innovation Party (Ishin), a commanding 352-seat supermajority in the lower house. The result paves the way for her promised tax cuts and a defense buildup aimed at countering China, even as those plans unsettle financial markets and strain regional ties.
“This election involved major policy shifts — particularly a major shift in economic and fiscal policy, as well as strengthening security policy,” Takaichi said in a televised interview as results rolled in.
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Takaichi, Japan’s first female leader and a self-described admirer of Margaret Thatcher, called the rare winter snap election after her rise to the LDP’s top job late last year. Voters trudged through heavy snow to cast ballots, with record snowfall in some regions prompting early closures of polling stations. It was only the third postwar election held in February, a month typically avoided for national votes.
The two-thirds lower-house majority will ease Takaichi’s legislative agenda, allowing the ruling camp to override the opposition-controlled upper chamber on key bills. Her thumping victory, the LDP’s best-ever lower-house result, also provides a political cushion for contentious moves on taxes and security that will test investor confidence and diplomatic patience.
At the center of her economic push is a suspension of the 8% sales tax on food to help households squeezed by rising prices. Takaichi said she would speed up consideration of the cut while maintaining “fiscal sustainability,” a pledge closely watched given Japan’s heavy public debt. “Her plans for the cut in the consumption tax leave open big question marks about funding and how she’s going to go about making the arithmetic add up,” said Chris Scicluna, head of research at Daiwa Capital Markets Europe in London.
Business leaders broadly welcomed the political clarity. Yoshinobu Tsutsui, head of the powerful Keidanren business lobby, said the win restored stability at a time when “Japan’s economy is now at a critical juncture for achieving sustainable and strong growth.”
Takaichi’s straight-talking style and security-first messaging helped revive a party that had lost control of both houses in the previous 15 months under her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba. She has also sparked “sanakatsu,” or “Sanae-mania,” among younger voters; the handbag she favors and the pink pen she uses in parliament have been in hot demand.
Her ascent, however, has drawn sharp reactions abroad. Weeks after taking office, Takaichi publicly outlined how Tokyo might respond to a Chinese attack on Taiwan, triggering the biggest dispute with Beijing in more than a decade. China responded with several countermeasures, including urging its citizens not to travel to Japan. Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said he would press ahead with plans to strengthen Japan’s defenses while pursuing dialogue with China. “Beijing will not welcome Takaichi’s victory,” said David Boling of the Asia Group. “China now faces the reality that she is firmly in place — and that its efforts to isolate her completely failed.”
International reaction to the landslide was swift. U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Takaichi and wished her “great success in passing your conservative, peace through strength agenda,” adding that her decision to call an election “paid off big time.” Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te also congratulated her, expressing hope the result would bring “a more prosperous and secure future for Japan and its partners in the region.”
With a powerful mandate in hand, Takaichi now faces her hardest work: making the numbers add up on tax relief without rattling markets and advancing security plans without tipping the region into deeper confrontation. How she balances household relief, fiscal discipline and a tougher defense posture will define the next phase of Japan’s politics — and her legacy.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
