Takaichi Calls Snap Election: Japan's PM Gambles on Popularity for Power Grab

• Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced a snap election for February 8, just three months into her tenure, dissolving the Lower House on the first day of the new parliamentary session.
• She aims to secure a comfortable solo LDP majority, leveraging her high approval ratings (61-70%) to crush the opposition Centrist Reform Alliance before they gain traction.
• Takaichi seeks a public mandate for her hawkish foreign policy, particularly against China, to increase defense spending, accelerate economic security, and revise pacifist constraints.
• The election is also a referendum on her radical economic plan, "Takaichi-nomics," which includes a ¥122.3 trillion budget and a two-year suspension of the 8% sales tax on food.
• She has put her "political career as prime minister on the line" for this mandate, aiming to transform her current momentum into a long-term grip on power.

Why It Matters: PM Takaichi calls a snap election to solidify power, push hawkish foreign policy, and enact radical economic reforms.