TOKYO (AP) — Voting opened Sunday in parliamentary elections that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hopes will give her struggling party a victory big enough to push an ambitious conservative political agenda.
Takaichi is very popular, but the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for most of the past seven decades, is not. She called Sunday’s snap elections in the hope that they would reverse this.
She wants to advance a right-wing agenda that aims to boost Japan’s economy and military capabilities as tensions rise with China. It has also fostered ties with its crucial US ally, and sometimes unpredictable President Donald Trump.
The ultraconservative Takaichi, who took office as Japan’s first female leader in October, has vowed to “work, work, work,” and her style, which is seen as both playful and tough, has struck a chord with younger fans.
The latest polls indicated a landslide victory 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 spread out to pose a real challenge.
Takaichi is betting that her LDP party, along with its new partner, the Japan Innovation Party, will secure a majority in the 465-seat lower house, the most powerful of Japan’s bicameral parliament.
Recent polls by major Japanese newspapers show a possibility that Takaichi’s party could win a simple majority on its own while its coalition could win as many as 300 seats — a big jump from the slim majority it held since an election loss in 2024.
If the LDP fails to win a majority, “I will resign,” she said.
A landslide victory by Takaichi’s coalition could mean a significant rightward shift in Japan’s security, immigration and other policies. Japan has recently seen far-right populists gain ground, such as the anti-globalist nationalist party, Sanseito.
Takaichi has pledged to review security and defense policies by December to boost Japan’s offensive military capabilities, lift the arms export ban and move further away from the country’s post-war pacifist principles.
She has been pushing for tougher policies on foreigners, against espionage and other measures that appeal to a far-right audience but which experts say could undermine civil rights.
Takaichi also wants to increase defense spending in response to Trump’s pressure on Japan to loosen its purse strings.
In her campaign speeches, Takaichi stayed away from contentious issues and focused on the economy, tougher immigration and measures on foreigners, including tougher requirements for foreign property owners and a limit on foreign residents.
Record snowfall in northern Japan over the past few weeks, which has blocked roads and been blamed for dozens of deaths across the country, could disrupt voting or delay vote counting in hard-hit areas.