Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has dissolved the lower house of Parliament, paving the way for a snap election on February 8, 2026.
The dissolution of the 465-member lower house paves the way for a 12-day campaign that officially starts on Tuesday.
When House Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga declared the dissolution, the assembled parliamentarians stood up, shouted banzai meaning “long live” — three times and rushed out to prepare for the campaign.
In a news conference when announcing plans for the election, Takaichi said, “I believe that the only option is for the people, as sovereign citizens, to decide” whether she should be Prime Minister.
A hardline conservative, Takaichi wants to highlight differences with her centrist predecessor Shigeru Ishiba. Takaichi stresses that voters need to judge her fiscal spending moves, further military buildup and tougher immigration policies to make Japan “strong and prosperous.”
Takaichi stated that she needs a mandate to push policies she’s agreed on with her new coalition partner, the right-wing Japan Innovation Party.
They struck a deal in October to pursue goals that include a stronger military, continuing male-only imperial succession, and accelerating the reactivation of offline nuclear reactors.
Takaichi struck a deal with the JIP after the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s long-time ally Komeito, a Buddhist-backed centrist party, left the ruling bloc over her ideological views and reluctance to pursue anti-corruption measures. With the new partner’s help, she secured just enough votes to become Prime Minister.
Komeito turned to the main liberal-leaning opposition, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, to form the Centrist Reform Alliance just in time for the election.
So far, polling for the alliance is not promising but Komeito’s ability to turn out votes from the Soka Gakkai sect makes it a force to be reckoned with.
Takaichi Seeks To Capitalize On Popularity
Takaichi’s plan for an early election aims to capitalize on her popularity to win a governing majority in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber Parliament.
The scandal-tainted LDP and its coalition had a slim majority in the more lower house after an election loss in 2024. The coalition lacks a majority in the upper house and relies on winning votes from opposition members to pass its agenda.
The move is an attempt to capitalize on her popularity to help governing party regain ground after major losses in recent years, but will delay parliamentary approval for a budget that aims at boosting a struggling economy and addressing soaring prices.
Opposition leaders criticized Takaichi for delaying passage of a budget needed to fund key economic measures.
Elected in October as Japan’s first female leader, Takaichi has been in office only three months, but she has seen strong approval ratings of about 70%.
Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party could still face some challenges as it reels from a series of scandals about corruption and the party’s past ties to the controversial Unification Church.
However, it’s not clear if the new opposition Centrist Reform Alliance can attract moderate voters while opposition parties are still too splintered to a pose a serious threat to the LDP.
While an upbeat and decisive image has earned her strong approval ratings and fans of her personal style, the LDP is not popular as it recovers from a political funds scandal. Many traditional LDP voters have shifted to emerging far-right populist opposition parties, such as the anti-globalist Sanseito.
Takaichi is also seeing rising animosity with China since she made pro-Taiwan remarks and US President, Donald Trump wants her to spend more on weapons as Washington and Beijing pursue military superiority in the region.
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