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yesterday

Takaichi Heads Into Sunday Snap Vote With Polls Forecasting Big LDP–Innovation Gains

Fresh surveys point to a commanding LDP–Innovation edge driven by Takaichi’s strong resonance with younger voters.

FILE - A cyclist passes an election campaign poster ahead of the lower house election in Tokyo, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte, File)
Yoshihiko Noda, one of the co-leaders of the newly formed Japanese political party Centrist Reform Alliance, waves to the passersby after delivering a speech in support of the party's candidate for the lower house election in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
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Overview

  • Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has framed the election as a personal mandate and vowed to resign if the ruling coalition fails to secure a majority.
  • Fresh polls from Nikkei, Asahi and Kyodo project the LDP–Japan Innovation bloc winning more than 300 of 465 seats, with scenarios of an LDP single-party majority as the new Centrist Reform Alliance lags.
  • A Yomiuri survey finds her popularity boosting LDP candidates in single-seat districts, with the number holding comfortable leads rising in the campaign’s final stage.
  • President Donald Trump issued a public endorsement and announced a March 19 meeting in Washington, underscoring the campaign’s elevated foreign-policy profile.
  • Severe winter weather is depressing early voting in snow-hit prefectures by more than 20 percent, raising turnout uncertainties days before ballots are cast.