2026 POLLS: Takaichi’s Video Message Tops 100 M. Views

Tokyo, Feb. 4 (Jiji Press)–A video message from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, posted on YouTube by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has garnered over 100 million views as of Wednesday, a rarity for a political video. Some have questioned how much money was spent on ads, as the surge in views is believed to be due partly to the video being promoted on X, formerly Twitter, and other social media platforms. “The future is something you have to build with your own hands,” Takaichi, also LDP president, says in the video uploaded onto the party’s official channel on Jan. 26, a day before the start of the campaign period for Sunday’s House of Representatives election. “The LDP will lead the way,” she continues. The video achieved the milestone number of views in about 10 days, compared with 35 days for the hit song “Idol” by Japanese pop duo Yoasobi, the fastest music video to hit 100 million views on YouTube in Japan. The previous video with the most views on the LDP’s channel, which has about 196,000 subscribers, was one featuring then Prime Minister and LDP President Shigeru Ishiba ahead of the 2024 election for the lower chamber of parliament, with about 22 million views. Among other parties, Sanseito, which has three times the number of subscribers of the LDP, had the video with the most views. Uploaded in May last year, it amassed around 48 million views. On Tuesday, Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya said on X, “We’re struggling in the online (campaign) battle.” “We plan on running more ads,” he said. The most-viewed YouTube video for the Democratic Party for the People was uploaded in October 2024, garnering some 14 million views, while that for the Centrist Reform Alliance, which was recently formed by the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, was posted in January this year, drawing 1 million views. Although the public offices election law bans paid online ads by individual candidates, ads for parties that provide a link to their election campaign websites are allowed. “Social media significantly distorting politics and elections is unacceptable,” Chuo University professor Koji Nakakita said. “I think it’s time to discuss the proper enforcement of rules” on social media and politics, he said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]