Campaigning Begins for Japan’s Feb. 8 Lower House Poll

Tokyo, Jan. 27 (Jiji Press)–The 12-day campaign period for the Feb. 8 election for Japan’s House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament, began Tuesday. This is the first general election since the formation of the coalition government between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its new partner, the Japan Innovation Party. Prime Minister and LDP President Sanae Takaichi views the election as a chance to gauge public confidence in the coalition. Key issues include measures against inflation, a proposed consumption tax cut and policies on foreigners. The ruling parties aim to maintain a majority in the 465-seat Lower House. When the chamber was dissolved on Friday for the election, the ruling bloc held a total of 233 seats, a narrow majority. “Important policies and the structure of the administration have changed,” Takaichi said in her first street speech for the election, which was held near East Japan Railway Co.’s Akihabara Station in Tokyo and joined by Hirofumi Yoshimura, who leads the JIP. “We cannot advance policies in an unstable situation,” the prime minister also said, seeking support for helping the ruling bloc to secure a majority in the Lower House. Yoshimura said, “We will serve as an accelerator, promote reforms that the LDP could not advance and move Japanese politics forward.” Yoshihiko Noda, co-leader of the Centrist Reform Alliance, newly formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, delivered his first speech in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan. “The question is whether we can receive support as we appeal for policies under the philosophy of putting consumers first,” Noda said. Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, spoke at Shinbashi Station in Tokyo, pointing out that the passage of the government’s fiscal 2026 budget would be delayed due to the election. “We must change our politics to one that puts people’s lives first instead of the old politics that puts elections first.” Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya called for support at Tokyo Station, asserting, “There is no future for the Japanese government if the choice is only between the ruling bloc and the centrist.” In their respective speeches, leaders of the Japanese Communist Party and Reiwa Shinsengumi criticized the Takaichi administration. This is the first Lower House election since October 2024, when then Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was in power. A total of 1,285 people filed their candidacies–1,119 for single-seat constituencies and 166 under the proportional representation system. Of the total, 313 were women. Of the 465 seats, 289 are allocated to single-seat constituencies and 176 under the proportional representation system. In the previous 2024 race, 1,344 people, including 314 women, ran for office. The number of female candidates is expected to be around the same level this time. With two years and nine months remaining in Lower House members’ four-year terms, Takaichi dissolved the chamber to seek a public mandate for her administration, launched in October last year. The election will take place 16 days after the dissolution, the shortest such period in Japan’s post-World War II history. Takaichi has said that she would step down if the ruling camp fails to maintain a majority in the Lower House. The LDP suffered consecutive losses in the previous Lower House election and the 2025 election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, when Komeito was its coalition partner. Opposition parties, including the Centrist Reform Alliance, will vie for votes against the ruling bloc. The Centrist Reform Alliance aims to secure the largest number of seats in the Lower House. Among other opposition parties, the DPFP and Sanseito hope to win as many seats as they did in the previous Upper House election. The LDP fielded 337 candidates, followed by the Centrist Reform Alliance with 236. The number of candidates stood at 89 for the JIP, 104 for the DPFP, 176 for the JCP, 31 for Reiwa Shinsengumi, 18 for a new party formed by former internal affairs minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi and former Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura, 190 for Sanseito, 20 for the Conservative Party of Japan, 15 for the Social Democratic Party, and 15 for Team Mirai. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]