Japan's Sanae Takaichi Wins Landslide Election Victory, Cementing Power as Country's First Female Prime Minister
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party stormed to a decisive victory in Sunday's snap election, exit polls projected, delivering Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi the commanding mandate she sought just four months after becoming the country's first female leader. The LDP and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, were projected to win between 300 and 366 of the 465 seats in the House of Representatives, according to projections from broadcaster NHK and major Japanese newspapers, far exceeding the 233-seat threshold for a simple majority. The result represents a stunning reversal of fortune for a party that appeared to be in terminal decline less than a year ago. Under Takaichi's predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, the LDP lost its parliamentary majority in both chambers amid public fury over a slush fund scandal and the rising cost of living. Now, buoyed by what Japanese commentators have dubbed 'Sana-mania,' Takaichi has transformed the party's prospects through a potent combination of nationalist rhetoric, populist spending promises, and a social media savvy that has captivated younger voters in particular. Yet the landslide also arrives freighted with enormous challenges. Japan faces a deteriorating relationship with China, persistent inflation that has eroded real wages for years, a weakening yen, and government debt exceeding twice its GDP — the heaviest burden of any advanced economy. How Takaichi wields her new supermajority will shape not only Japan's domestic trajectory but the broader geopolitical balance in the Indo-Pacific.