Overview
- Japanese outlets including Nikkei report the prime minister intends to trigger a snap election by dissolving the chamber on January 23, with February 8 seen as the likely vote date.
- NHK and TV Asahi say she is arranging a meeting with senior Liberal Democratic Party figures and junior partner Japan Innovation Party to discuss the plan.
- Government spokesman Minoru Kihara declined to comment on the reports, saying the decision belongs to the prime minister.
- Surveys put her support at roughly 70–78 percent, and party strategists believe early elections could translate that popularity into more seats.
- Despite strong polling, coverage notes her coalition holds only a slim lower-house majority that has complicated progress on her policy agenda.