Voting opened on Sunday morning across Japan for a snap parliamentary election called by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. She dissolved the lower house in January in a high-stakes move intended to secure a clearer mandate for herself and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Takaichi remains personally popular with many voters, including younger demographics, but the LDP has been weakened by recent scandals and faces a newly formed opposition alliance. The far-right Sanseito party has also entered the race, though pollsters generally do not see it as a major threat to the main parties.
Pre-election opinion surveys suggest the LDP is on track to win the 233 seats needed for a majority in the 465-member lower house. Some polls put the LDP and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, as high as about 310 seats — reaching the two-thirds threshold that would allow the coalition to override the opposition-controlled upper chamber. Such an outcome would be the LDP’s strongest showing since Shinzo Abe’s 2017 victory; Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was assassinated in 2022.
A clear LDP victory would represent a rightward shift in Japanese politics. After poor results in 2024 the party held only a slim majority and struggled to pass key legislation. Takaichi has publicly said she will resign if the LDP fails to secure a majority.
Polling stations were due to close at 8 p.m. local time, with vote counting expected to continue late into the night. The election is taking place against the backdrop of record snowfall across large parts of the country in recent weeks, which could hamper access to some polling places, slow the count and has been linked to dozens of deaths and blocked roads.
Who is Sanae Takaichi?
Takaichi became Japan’s first female prime minister in October. Often described as ultraconservative and a China hawk, she has cited former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher as an inspiration and campaigned on a message of personal responsibility and hard work that has appealed to many supporters. Her platform includes bolstering Japan’s defense spending and capabilities amid rising tensions with Beijing, seeking closer ties with former US President Donald Trump, tightening immigration controls and pursuing measures aimed at economic revitalization.
The result of the vote will determine whether Takaichi and the LDP can regain a stronger, more stable mandate to advance their policy agenda, or whether a new balance of power will limit their legislative ambitions.