Political Party
Appears in 2 stories
Secures postwar-record 316 seats alone, historic supermajority validated February 9
Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, called a snap election on January 19, 2026, dissolving parliament on January 23 for a record-short 16-day campaign ending February 8. Takaichi's personal approval ratings of 60-78% overcame the party's pre-election scandals, leveraging pledges of fiscal stimulus, two-year food tax suspension, and tough China policy. Official results certified on February 9 confirmed LDP's postwar-record 316 seats alone—surpassing the 2009 DPJ high—securing a two-thirds supermajority even without full coalition reliance.
Updated Feb 9
Governing party; severed church ties in 2022
Tetsuya Yamagami shot former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a campaign rally in July 2022, using a homemade gun he built after his mother's donations to the Unification Church—totaling $720,000—destroyed his family. On January 21, 2026, a Nara court sentenced him to life in prison, rejecting defense arguments that his traumatic upbringing warranted leniency.
Updated Jan 24
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