Japan’s firebrand prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, and her Liberal Democratic Party won a decisive victory in Sunday’s snap elections, according to public broadcaster NHK, securing a robust parliamentary majority and broader public mandate for her conservative agenda. The election was driven by enthusiasm about Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, and her party’s two-thirds supermajority victory appeared to affirm a strong appetite for her “Japan First” approach. Since becoming prime minister, Takaichi’s unusually blunt statements about Taiwan have also inflamed tensions with Beijing. Since World War II, Japan’s military technically exists only for self-defense. Before her victory last year, the party had been plagued by scandals and lost its majority in 2024.

Source: Washington Post February 09, 2026 00:53 UTC