Prime Minister Takaichi’s gamble has paid off as her party wins a landslide victory in the snap elections she called this past Sunday, 8 February. Now possessing a clear mandate from the people, Prime Minister Takaichi re-emerges victorious as the head of a government where her party has the clear majority, winning an estimated 316 of the total 465 seats up for grabs in Japan’s Parliament.
The results are even more extraordinary, given that her party, the LDP, had been polling at an average of only 28 per cent approval before the elections. Takaichi gambled that her personal popularity would be enough to secure LDP’s future after the messy breakup with its longstanding former coalition partner and now primary opposition party, Komeito. Not only has Takaichi been able to secure her party’s continued rule in the National Diet, but she has also managed to grow its share of seats by a staggering 125, giving the LDP a two-thirds majority in Parliament. And there can be no doubt that Takaichi herself is largely responsible.
Japanese voters swamped the polls in droves, some braving a snowstorm for the first time in living memory during an election in order to cast their ballots. At the forefront of the race were concerns about the rising cost of living and Japan’s relationship with the United States. President Trump publicly endorsed Takaichi on truth social the weekend of the election, saying ‘She will not let Japan down!’ Takaichi has become only the second world leader, after Viktor Orbán of Hungary, to earn such high praise and official endorsement from President Trump.
‘At the forefront of the race were concerns about the rising cost of living and Japan’s relationship with the United States’
As Takaichi heads back to Tokyo with a clear, overwhelming mandate, she will be forced to tackle the problems of the rising costs of living, inflation, and a United States that is eager for her to make good on her promise to increase Japan’s defense spending to 2 per cent of GDP by next month. She will also be forced to confront a Beijing that will not be too thrilled to see her back in office.
The Japanese–Chinese relationship has reached an all-time low as of late, as tensions in the Indo-Pacific region continue to flare up. With recent disputes over Taiwan leading to Beijing’s boycotting flights to Japan and their condemnation of Japan’s efforts to increase its cooperation with NATO, tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have been steadily increasing over the past few months.
In contrast, however, Japan and the United States have seemingly entered into a new ‘golden era’ in their relationship. Takaichi’s efforts to make Japan a more proactive and reliable ally to the United States have not gone unnoticed by President Trump and his administration. As the US continues to pursue Trump’s ‘America-First’ and more transactional policies, Japan’s efforts to not only increase its defense capabilities, but to fill in the capability gaps of America’s allies in the region, Australia in particular, have gained it significant applause from Washington.
Japan’s future is yet to be determined, but one thing is overwhelmingly certain: the Japanese people believe Takiachi is the right person to lead them into it. Only time will tell if they made the right choice.
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