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July 06, 2026
 

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LDP

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends an election campaign event for Sunday's snap election, in the city of Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2026
LDP-JIP coalition set for commanding election victory, polls show
The ruling bloc could end up with more than 300 seats, giving it a possible two-thirds majority in the Lower House.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and other LDP leaders celebrate at the Diet after the dissolution of the House of Representatives on Jan. 23, days after calling for a snap election.
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2026
Takaichi and the LDP appear poised for a big win
Takaichi’s performance has surprised most observers. Not only did she take office with sky-high approval ratings, but she has maintained them since October.
Voters listen to a stump speech by a Lower House election candidate in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 6, 2026
Conservative division deepens in Fukui Prefecture
The LDP’s grip is slipping ahead of Sunday’s vote, following a recent gubernatorial election that left major fractures within the ruling party.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a bilateral meeting in Tokyo on Oct. 28.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2026
Trump endorses Takaichi in Sunday’s election and announces March 19 summit
U.S. President Donald Trump has again broken with tradition, offering his “total endorsement” of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her ruling bloc.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi giving a campaign speech in Shiroishi Town, Saga Prefecture, on Thursday
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2026
Takaichi keeps mum on tax cut and Unification Church
Hoping to turn Takaichi’s silence into a focal point of the election campaign, opposition parties have ramped up their criticism.
Former Prime Minister Taro Aso, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, delivers a speech in the city of Osaka on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 5, 2026
LDP election cooperation with Komeito during 26-year tie-up ‘nonsense,’ says Aso
While the parties were in an alliance, the LDP had asked supporters to cast proportional representation votes for Komeito in exchange for Komeito supporters backing LDP candidates.
A Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system during a military parade in central Moscow in May 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 5, 2026
End of U.S.-Russia nuclear pact raises fears of unchecked arms race
The shift is also expected to impact Japan and a debate over revising its three nonnuclear principles.
The original promulgation copy of the Constitution of Japan, at the National Archives of Japan in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward in 2017
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 5, 2026
Road to constitutional revision emerging as key topic
The LDP lists four desired constitutional revisions in its campaign pledges, including specifying the role of the Self-Defense Forces and establishing a state of emergency system.
A video message from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi posted on YouTube by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has surpassed 100 million views, prompting questions over advertising spending amid reports that the surge was driven in part by promotion on social media platforms.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 5, 2026
Takaichi video message tops 100 million views
The video achieved the milestone number of views in about 10 days.
Centrist Reform Alliance candidate in Hyogo’s No. 8 district, Yoshie Hirokawa (center), stands on the stage after pitching her candidacy to Komeito’s supporters in the Sonoda district of Amagasaki together with members of Hyogo Prefectural Assembly and Amagasaki City Assembly.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 5, 2026
Where will Komeito’s votes go? The answer might come from this Hyogo district
Amagasaki is now a heated battleground as campaign teams rush to woo supporters of the ruling party’s former coalition partner.
Yoshihiko Noda, co-leader of the Centrist Reform Alliance, the nation’s largest opposition party, greets supporters during a campaign event in Osaka on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 4, 2026
Is this election really unpredictable?
Despite media uncertainty, opposition weaknesses and recent polls suggest Takaichi and the LDP are likely headed for a strong victory.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is also president of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks at an LDP election rally in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 4, 2026
Takaichi seen avoiding discussing plan to cut Lower House seats
The prime minister seeming to avoid discussing the Lower House seat-cut proposal now is believed to reflect concerns within the Liberal Democratic Party about it, observers said.
Voters listen to a stump speech in the city of Hachioji, in western Tokyo, on Jan. 29.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 4, 2026
LDP executive seeks to leave slush fund scandal behind
Koichi Hagiuda was among the five leading figures of the now-defunct LDP faction once led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which was at the center of the scandal.
A supporter holds a flyer for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is also president of the Liberal Democratic Party, alongside an English vocabulary book at an LDP election rally in the city of Saitama on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 4, 2026
How Sanae Takaichi won over disillusioned young voters
So far, the prime minister’s strategy of presenting herself as different from previous leaders seems to have struck a chord with Japan’s youth.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi joins Japan Innovation Party leaders Fumitake Fujita (right) and Hirofumi Yoshimura at an election event in Tokyo on Jan. 27, the first day of campaigning for the Feb. 8 snap election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 4, 2026
A cheat sheet to Takaichi’s snap election
Parties with traditional vote-generating architectures in place before Japan’s snap election have a significant advantage.
CRA candidate Kureha Otsuki’s campaign van. Blizzards and cold weather in Hokkaido’s 4th district has made campaigning in Otaru, a popular tourist attraction, difficult.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 3, 2026
Fiery campaigns in freezing weather: Inside Hokkaido’s No. 4 district race
Old rivals go head to head amid cold temperatures as both candidates keep a wary eye on a looming newcomer.
Sanseito supporters listen as the party’s leader, Sohei Kamiya, speaks at an election campaign event in Tokyo on Jan. 27, the first day of official campaigning for the Feb. 8 snap election. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 3, 2026
Has Takaichi secured a win? Conservative voters are returning to the LDP.
Takaichi’s confidence in calling an election just four months into her tenure as Japan’s leader comes from high public approval and a general fragmentation in the opposition ranks.
Supporters of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attend an election campaign event in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 3, 2026
Where will Japan’s democracy go from here?
Many question the rationale for the snap election with some critics claiming that it is an election without a “just cause.”
A poster board in the Osaka No. 5 district in the city of Osaka. Candidates from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, are competing against each other in all single-seat constituencies in Osaka Prefecture in Sunday's Lower House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 3, 2026
In Osaka, LDP faces off against JIP despite being allies
Roughly 66,000 people who voted for Komeito in the last Lower House election are seen as kingmakers in the Osaka No. 5 district.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to voters in Aichi Prefecture on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 2, 2026
LDP-JIP coalition on track to secure two-thirds majority, survey shows
The opposition Centrist Reform Alliance is projected to lose more than half of the seats it held before Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved the Lower House, a new survey shows.
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Chinese tourists at Wat Arun Ratchawararam Rathawaramahawihan in Bangkok
Murakami says his novels are ‘different’ from AI literature
Haruki Murakami's first book in three years hit shelves in Japan on Friday.
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Micron breaks ground on $9 billion western Japan plant expansion
Micron Technology’s factory in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.
‘Defense,’ not ‘warfare,’ stressed as pacifist Japan beefs up capabilities
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends an annual training session near Mount Fuji at Higashifuji Training Field in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 7.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
X Games returns to Chiba with new team format
Skateboarder Sora Shirai practices at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on Friday afternoon. X Games Chiba begins on Saturday.
NU Festival tests Takanawa Gateway City complex’s culture cred
Veteran improvisers Kazuo Imai and Atsuhiro Ito brought some unruly energy to NU Festival, a three-day multimedia event held at the Takanawa Gateway City complex.  

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