Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is leveraging her popularity to help her party win Sunday’s (February 8, 2026) snap election as she pushes her right-wing agenda to boost her country’s economy and military capabilities in the face of growing tensions with China and an unpredictable Washington.

The ultraconservative Ms. Takaichi, who took office as Japan’s first female leader in October, has since enjoyed high ratings and support as her style and “work, work, work” mantra resonates with younger fans.

Latest polls indicate a landslide win in the lower house for Ms. Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party. The opposition, despite the formation of a new centrist alliance and the rising far-right, remains too splintered to be a real challenger.

Ms. Takaichi’s relatively safe bet is that her LDP party would, together with its new partner, the Japan Innovation Party, or JIP, secure a majority in the 465-seat lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament.

Simple majority likely

Still, the latest surveys by major Japanese newspapers show there is a possibility Ms. Takaichi’s party could win a simple majority on its own, while her coalition could win as many as 300 seats — a big jump from a thin majority it held since a 2024 election loss.

The coalition lacks a majority in the other chamber, the upper house, which leaves it dependent on cooperation from the opposition to pass legislation, a risk to stability.

Ms. Takaichi said Sunday’s election is about deciding if she should stay on as Japanese leader and tackle her “nation-splitting policies.”

If the LDP fails to win a majority, “I will step down,” she said.

A big win by Ms. Takaichi’s coalition with its right-wing new partner JIP could mean a significant shift in Japan’s security, immigration and other policies further to the right as far-right populists gain ground, such as the anti-globalist, surging nationalist party Sanseito.

Opposition centrist alliance

The Buddhist-backed dovish Komeito party, which had split from the LDP over Ms. Takaichi’s political views and lax anti-corruption measures, has formed a centrist alliance with the liberal-leaning main opposition — the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan — promising policies that include a “realistic” security, a nuclear weapons-free world and diversity.

WATCH: Handbags sold out, pens going viral: Takaichi turns politics into pop culture

Komeito’s ability to turn out multimillion votes from the Soka Gakkai sect could present a minor setback to the LDP, but surveys for the centrist alliance are not promising.

Left-leaning parties are increasingly losing ground as younger voters see their war-renouncing and anti-nuclear policies as unrealistic, and their further decline is inevitable, said Izuru Makihara, a University of Tokyo professor and expert in Japanese politics.

Ms. Takaichi has pledged to revise security and defence policies by December to bolster Japan’s offensive military capabilities, lifting the ban on lethal weapons exports and moving further away from the country’s postwar pacifist principles.

She has been pushing for tougher policies on foreigners, anti-espionage and other measures that resonates with a far-right audience but ones that experts say could undermine civil rights.

Ms. Takaichi needs to find ways to increase defence spending in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s pressure on Japan to loosen its purse strings.

In her campaign speeches, Ms. 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 cap on foreign residents.

Chiharu Sasaki, a resident of Tokyo, said that while it’s good to have a female leader, she has to see what Ms. Takaichi will do.

“There is an image that Ms. Takaichi is someone who gets things done, but she hasn’t really proved it yet … so I’m still a bit cautious,” Sasaki said.

Tensions with China

Japan has been facing escalating tensions with China after Ms .Takaichi suggested Japan could get involved in the case of Chinese military action against Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. Her comment, deviating from other Japanese leaders’ strategic ambiguity in the past, angered China. Beijing has since stepped up economic and diplomatic retribution.

The prolonged tensions and economic impact from China’s trade and diplomatic reprisals have raised concerns, prompting Ms. Takaichi to step back from her right-wing rhetoric.

Mr. Trump wants Japan to spend more on weapons as U.S.-China rivalry continues in the region.

On Thursday, Mr. Trump gave a rare endorsement for Ms. Takaichi on X, announcing his invitation for her to visit the White House on March 19 and praising her as “a strong, powerful, and wise leader.”

“She will not let the people of Japan down!” Mr. Trump said.

Record snowfall in northern Japan over the last few weeks, which blocked roads and was blamed for dozens of deaths nationwide, could hinder voting or delay vote counting in that part of the country.

Ms. Takaichi’s party is also reeling from political funds scandals and its deep-rooted ties to the Unification Church, which surfaced during the investigation of the 2022 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Opposition leaders demand that Ms. Takaichi clarify allegations in newly surfaced documents that link her and her party to the controversial church, which has faced hundreds of lawsuits in Japan from families who say that it manipulated members into draining their savings to make donations.

Also in the mix ahead of the vote on Sunday are uncertainties as to just how Ms. Takaichi’s popularity among younger generations, traditionally known for low turnout at the polls, could translate into party votes

Published – February 07, 2026 02:35 pm IST

New Delhi:

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, elected in October, has expressed his intent to move into his official residence despite persistent rumours of the house being “haunted”.

Originally constructed in 1929, the two-story, 5,183-square-metre stone and brick mansion was initially built as the Prime Minister’s office. Its Art Deco design symbolised Japan’s transition to modernism in the early 20th century. It was inspired by the architectural style of the Imperial Hotel, designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The Imperial Hotel, completed in 1923, famously withstood the Great Kanto Earthquake that devastated much of Tokyo.

The building has been the site of numerous tumultuous events in Japanese political history. In 1932, then-Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai was assassinated in the building by young naval officers during a coup attempt. This incident marked a dark turn in Japan’s political trajectory towards militarism. Four years later, another military uprising occurred at the site. Then-Prime Minister Keisuke Okada narrowly escaped assassination by hiding in a closet, though five people were shot dead during the rebellion. A bullet hole above one of the entrance doors remains as a reminder of these events.

After decades of wear, the building underwent renovations, completed in 2005. The Japanese government spent approximately 8.6 billion yen to restore the mansion to its former grandeur while modernising it into a livable space for prime ministers. The renovations included the restoration of intricate wood carvings and ornate rooms, as well as preserving its idiosyncratic stone owl carvings that stand guard outside the building.

Since 2005, the residence has officially served as the Prime Minister’s home.

The Prime Minister’s residence has long been associated with ghost stories. These rumours stem primarily from its violent history. Former Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata’s wife, Yasuko Hata, recounted eerie experiences during her time at the residence in a 1996 memoir. She described feeling an “eerie and oppressive presence” and claimed that military officers’ apparitions had been sighted in the garden during the night.

Yoshiro Mori, another former prime minister, reportedly told Shinzo Abe that he had encountered ghosts in the residence. Despite these accounts, government officials have repeatedly dismissed the rumours. In 2013, during Shinzo Abe’s second tenure as Prime Minister, the government issued a formal denial of any knowledge of hauntings after questions arose over Abe’s decision not to reside in the mansion.

Before the renovations were completed, an exorcism by a Shinto priest was reportedly conducted to cleanse the building of any lingering spirits. 

Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, chose not to return to the mansion during his second term from 2012 to 2020. Instead, he resided in his private home in Tokyo’s Shibuya district. His decision was partially influenced by the mansion’s reputation and its association with political instability. From 2006 to 2007, during his first tenure as Prime Minister, the mansion housed six premiers who each served for relatively short periods, averaging just over a year.

Yoshihide Suga, Abe’s successor, also opted against living in the residence.

Fumio Kishida, who became Prime Minister in December 2021, broke this trend by moving into the mansion. When asked about the ghosts, Kishida responded dismissively, stating that he had not encountered any and had slept well through the night. 
 

Tokyo:

Japan’s government admitted Monday manipulating an official photo of the new cabinet to make its members look less unkempt, after online mockery of their sagging trousers.

Images taken by local media showed what appeared to be an untidy patch of white shirt under the morning suits of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani.

In the official photo issued by Ishiba’s office, these blemishes had mysteriously disappeared, but not quickly enough to stop a barrage of mockery of the “untidy cabinet” on social media.

“This is more hideous than a group picture of some kind of a seniors’ club during a trip to a hot spring. It’s utterly embarrassing”, one user wrote on X. 

“Minor editing was made,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Monday, while seeking to deflect criticism of the manipulation.

“Group photos during official events of the prime minister’s office, such as the cabinet reshuffle, will be preserved forever as memorabilia, so minor editing is customarily performed on these photos,” he said. 

In March, Catherine, Britain’s Princess of Wales, apologised and said she had edited a photo with her children released by the palace.

The Mother’s Day portrait of a smiling Kate included several inconsistencies and sparked a storm after major news agencies including AFP withdrew the photo saying it had been manipulated.

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Kate said in a statement.

 “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Tokyo:

A photogenic political scion, a military model-maker and a hardliner hoping to become Japan’s first woman prime minister are among nine candidates vying to lead the world’s fourth-largest economy.

AFP gives a rundown of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers competing to win the ruling party’s leadership contest — and therefore become prime minister — on September 27:

The surfer

Surfing, media-savvy Shinjiro Koizumi is the youthful, photogenic son of the popular former premier Junichiro Koizumi.

As environment minister, Koizumi backed greater use of renewables.

He also took paternity leave in the post, saying he wants to share parenting duties with his television presenter wife.

But this doesn’t endear him to LDP elders, who might see Koizumi, 43, as too young and too lightweight to be prime minister.

Model-maker

Shigeru Ishiba is a former defence minister who is popular with voters but less so with LDP lawmakers, resulting in four failed attempts to be party leader.

The 67-year-old has questioned the Bank of Japan’s maverick interest rate policy while calling for efforts to counter rural depopulation.

He likes making military models — including one of a Soviet aircraft carrier for the visit of a Russian defence minister — as well as trains and 1970s pop idols.

The nationalist

Sanae Takaichi is a vocal nationalist popular with the LDP’s conservative wing. She was close to assassinated ex-premier Shinzo Abe, whose supporters are still powerful.

Takaichi, 63, is a regular visitor to the Yasukuni shrine to Japan’s war dead — including convicted war criminals — so her nomination would likely rile China and South Korea.

Like Abe, Takaichi, who also ran for the leadership in 2021, backs aggressive monetary easing, active fiscal spending and nuclear power. 

But unlike her hero Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister, she played drums in a student heavy metal band.

The liberal

Taro Kono, currently minister for digital transformation, is an experienced and outspoken reformist who was defeated by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the last leadership race in 2021.

US-educated Kono, 61, has held multiple minister jobs and has 2.5 million followers on X. His views are liberal-leaning by LDP standards.

Thirteen years after the Fukushima disaster, he has softened his opposition to nuclear power to meet growing energy demands, including from AI data centres.

The diplomat

Harvard-educated former consultant and current foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa is one of two women in the running along with Takaichi.

While justice minister, Kamikawa ordered 16 executions, including that of the head of the Aum doomsday cult responsible for the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.

As Japan’s top diplomat, the 71-year-old has won plaudits, including for a visit to Kyiv, but she reportedly struggled to secure the support needed to run as a candidate.

‘Trump Whisperer’

With strong English, Abe’s former golf partner Toshimitsu Motegi was dubbed the “Trump whisperer” for his deft handling of tricky US-Japan trade talks.

The Harvard-educated LDP secretary-general has been economy and foreign minister, and is respected for his policy knowledge.

But Motegi, 68, is reportedly feared for having a short fuse. Even Trump reportedly told Abe that he thought Motegi was “too tough”.

The others

Former foreign minister and current chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former health minister Katsunobu Kato and former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi are also in the running.

Anything could happen, with the race more open this time around after most of the LDP’s factions were disbanded in the wake of a funding scandal.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
| Photo Credit: AP

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was grilled by lawmakers on March 13 about a gathering of ruling party members at which scantily clad female dancers were reportedly told to use their mouths to receive cash tips.

Footage leaked from the event in November organised by a regional chapter of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) showed women dancing and sitting on participants’ laps. The women came from a troupe called Glamor Dancers and were obliged to use their mouths to receive banknotes hanging from those of the participants, media reports said.

One of the organisers, Tetsuya Kawabata, later sought to defend the event by saying that the presence of the “go-go dancers” were intended to ensure “diversity”.“We invited the dancers after studying from various viewpoints, including whether it matches the theme of diversity,” Mr. Kawabata, deputy head of the local LDP youth wing, told broadcaster ANN. He reportedly later resigned from the party. The LDP’s nationwide youth wing on Monday apologised and said that two MPs who attended were stepping down from their posts in the Youth Bureau, but will remain party members and lawmakers.

The episode is embarrassing for the LDP as it seeks to get more women into the male-dominated world of politics.

Mr. Kishida said on March 13 that the event “does not match the Cabinet’s goal of diversity”.

“What my Cabinet seeks is an inclusive society where all people feel the meaning of life with their dignity and diversity respected,” local media quoted him as saying.