Political situation in Japan

Landslide victory in Japan – LDP receives uniquely strong support

The Japanese ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, won a landslide victory in Sunday's election. The conservative party secured two-thirds of the seats in the lower house, the largest share for any party in the post-war period.

The LDP's rise from 198 to 315 seats is possible thanks to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's great popularity, according to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.

The election result essentially gives her free rein to push through her policies. The Japanese can count on major tax cuts, among other things.

“We bear an extremely heavy responsibility to focus on steadily delivering what we promised in the election campaign,” Takaichi said on Japanese television.

Analysis: Victory could threaten stability in the region

In just four months, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has managed to turn her party from a confidence crisis to a supermajority in the Japanese lower house, writes Sky News Helen-Ann Smith in an analysis.

Takaichi's party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), went from 198 to 315 seats in Sunday's election. This means that she not only has the mandate to change the constitution and override the country's advisory upper house - she could also threaten stability in the region, writes Smith.

Takaichi is likely to push through an increase in Japan's defense spending, writes Smith. That, together with Takaichi's support for an independent Taiwan, is unlikely to thaw the already frosty relationship with China:

"China is watching developments and they don't like what they see," writes Smith.

Rocky Swift and Tom Westbrook write an analysis for Reuters that instead deals with the effect Takaichi's victory could have on Japan's economic policy. An early test will be how Takaichi handles the promise to temporarily abolish Japan's food tax and how she will finance it, they write.