JN Lower House Elections

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s gamble that her personal popularity would lead to big election gains for her struggling party paid off hugely. On Monday, she began the process of translating that new power, made manifest in a two-thirds supermajority gained in parliamentary elections the day before, into what she hopes will be sweeping conservative legislation that will shift Japanese security, immigration, economic and social policies. The first steps include reappointing her Cabinet and pushing forward on a delayed budget ...

Takaichi has called a snap election just three months into the job, taking a high-risk move. It is all about securing a public mandate for her policy. She inherited a troubled party and a minority government in October after Ishiba Shigeru, who lost both parliamentary elections, was nearly forced to resign. The LDP lost public support with a cost-of-living crisis and several political funding scandals. Despite only narrowly becoming prime minister, her approval ratings during the first three months were surprisingly strong at around ...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces a crucial markets test in the final run-up to a snap election this weekend where she is hoping a decisive victory will give her a mandate for expansionary fiscal policy. The finance ministry will auction some 700 billion yen ($4.5 billion) of 30-year government bonds on Thursday, three days before polls open. It's a tenor that has been hyper-sensitive to worries about a loosening of fiscal restraint, suffering a rout last month as investors balked at Takaichi's pledge to suspend the ...

Less than half a year into office and Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has called a snap election, dissolving the Lower House on Jan. 23 and sending voters to the polls on Feb. 8. “I am putting my future as prime minister on this election,” Takaichi said at a press conference Monday, according to a Google translation of her remarks in Japanese. “I would like the people to make a direct decision on whether they can entrust the management of the nation to Sanae Takaichi.” The move comes despite the Lower House’s term running ...

The yen sank to a three-month low in the lower 153 zone against the U.S. dollar early Monday amid political uncertainty in Japan after the country's ruling coalition lost its majority in the general election the previous day. Tokyo stocks opened lower but turned higher in early trading, tracking a rise late last week of the technology-heavy Nasdaq index, while exporter issues were boosted by the yen's decline. At 9 a.m., the dollar fetched 152.95-96 yen compared with 152.27-37 yen in New York and 151.94-96 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. ...

In a surprising turn of events, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner are set to lose their majority in Sunday’s election, according to a forecast from public broadcaster NHK, raising questions about the future of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Amid voter discontent over a slush-fund scandal, not to mention Japan's worst runaway inflation in generations, the LDP and Komeito appear likely to fall short of the 233 seats needed for a majority in the lower house of parliament, NHK forecasts. Ishiba had aimed ...