Voting has begun in the House of Representatives election (general election) led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. A February general election is the first in 36 years since 1990.
This election is being held after Takaichi, who took office in October, abruptly dissolved the House of Representatives (lower house) on the first day of the regular Diet session on the 23rd. It is said to be the first dissolution on the opening day of a regular session in Japan in 60 years.
The House of Representatives has a total of 465 seats, combining 289 single-member district seats and 176 proportional representation seats. There are 1,284 candidates, voting ends at 8 p.m., and the ballot counting process begins immediately.
Takaichi, president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said the goal in the general election is for the ruling camp to secure a majority of seats. If the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Japan Innovation Party win 233 seats or more, this goal will be achieved.
However, some say the goal is for the Liberal Democratic Party to win a majority on its own. This is because even before the dissolution of the House of Representatives, the combined seats of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Innovation Party were 233.
Major Japanese media outlets predict the Liberal Democratic Party is likely to secure an "absolute stable majority" on the back of Takaichi's high popularity. An absolute stable majority means the ruling camp holds all standing committee chairmanships and a majority in the standing committees.
Earlier, the Yomiuri Shimbun, analyzing the landscape based on a public opinion survey conducted on the 3rd to 5th, predicted the Liberal Democratic Party could increase its seats from the current 198 to 261, the level of an absolute stable majority.
If the Innovation Party's seats are added to that, some observe it could reach 310 seats, the threshold for introducing constitutional amendments and for overriding, in the House of Representatives, bills rejected by the House of Councilors (upper house).
By contrast, the "centrist reform alliance" formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party, formerly the largest opposition party, and the third-largest opposition party Komeito to counter the Takaichi administration was projected to see its seats shrink from 167 to 100 or fewer.
If the Liberal Democratic Party wins a landslide, Takaichi will gain momentum to push through the policies already presented. Advocating active fiscal policy, Takaichi has moved to pursue ▲early revision of the three key security documents for boosting national defense capabilities ▲easing restrictions on exports of defense equipment ▲enactment of an anti-espionage law ▲revision of Article 9 of the Constitution.
If the Takaichi Cabinet revises Article 9 of the Constitution, which stipulates the permanent renunciation of war and the use of force, the nonpossession of Army, Navy and Air Force capabilities, and the denial of the right of belligerency, Japan will shift to a "war-capable state" for the first time in about 80 years since the end of the Pacific War.