Overview
- Takaichi, who marks six months in office Tuesday, still holds 53% to 70% approval in major polls after slight dips reported over the weekend.
- Reports describe growing friction inside the LDP, with critics close to Taro Aso bristling at her top‑down style and questioning her plan to pause the 8% consumption tax.
- Her team is pressing security bills that include a new national intelligence committee this month, while party leaders prepare the ground for possible constitutional change.
- The upper house has slowed her agenda, delaying the record ¥122.31 trillion 2026 budget and forcing the first stopgap funding in 11 years, which signals harder bargaining ahead.
- The government is countering the Iran‑linked oil squeeze by releasing reserves, holding gasoline near ¥170 per liter, and easing petrochemical strains, as polls show most people feel the pinch.