Japan’s ‘Iron Lady’ Takaichi forges stunning election win

TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s coalition swept to a historic election win on Feb 8, paving the way for her tax cuts that have spooked financial markets, and military spending aimed at countering China.

The conservative Ms Takaichi, Japan’s first female leader who says she is inspired by Britain’s “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher, was projected to deliver as many as 328 of the 465 seats in Parliament’s Lower House for her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The LDP alone sailed past the 233 seats needed for a majority less than two hours after polls closed, on track for one of its best-ever election results.

With her coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, Ms Takaichi now has a supermajority of two-thirds of seats, easing her legislative agenda as she can override the Upper Chamber, which she does not control.

“This election involved major policy shifts – particularly a major shift in economic and fiscal policy, as well as strengthening security policy,” Ms Takaichi said in a television interview as the results rolled in.

“These are policies that have drawn a great deal of opposition. If we have received the public’s support, then we truly must tackle these issues with all our strength.”

Ms Takaichi, 64,

called the rare winter snap election

to capitalise on her buoyant personal approval ratings since she was elevated to lead the ruling LDP in late 2025.

Voters walking along a snow-covered road after leaving a polling station in Aomori, Japan, on Feb 8.
PHOTO: REUTERS

Takaichi’s bet on rare winter election pays off

Voters have been drawn to her straight-talking, hard-working image, but her nationalistic leanings and emphasis on security have strained ties with powerful neighbour China, while her promises of tax cuts have rattled financial markets.

Residents trudged through snow to cast their ballots, with

record snowfall in parts of the country

snarling traffic and requiring some polling stations to close early.

It is only the third post-war election held in February, with elections typically called during milder months.

Outside a polling station in the town of Uonuma in the mountainous Niigata prefecture, teacher Kazushige Cho, 54, braved below-freezing temperatures and deep snow to cast his vote for Ms Takaichi’s LDP.

“It feels like she’s creating a sense of direction – like the whole country pulling together and moving forward. That really resonates with me,” he said.

But Ms Takaichi’s election promise to suspend the 8 per cent sales tax on food to help households cope with rising prices has

spooked investors

concerned about how the nation with the heaviest debt burden among advanced economies will fund the plan.

She said in an interview that she would speed up consideration for the sales tax cut while keeping the focus on fiscal sustainability.

Mr Chris Scicluna, head of research at Daiwa Capital Markets Europe in London, said: “Her plans for the cut in the consumption tax leave open big question marks about funding and how she’s going to go about making the arithmetic add up.”

Mr Yoshinobu Tsutsui, head of Japan’s top business lobby Keidanren, welcomed the result as restoring political stability. “Japan’s economy is now at a critical juncture for achieving sustainable and strong growth,” he said.

The LDP, which has ruled for almost all of Japan’s post-war history, had lost control of both Houses in elections over the past 15 months under Ms Takaichi’s predecessor Shigeru Ishiba.

Japan’s ‘Iron Lady’ drew China’s ire

Ms Takaichi has managed to turn around the party’s fortunes by building a sizeable following on social media and striking a chord with younger voters, opinion polls show.

She has even sparked

an unlikely youth-led craze

called “sanakatsu”, roughly translated as “Sanae-mania”, with the products she uses, such as her handbag and the pink pen she scribbles notes with in Parliament, in high demand.