People brave cold in snow-hit Japan to vote in snap election as PM Takaichi hopes for big win

Record snowfall in northern Japan over the last few weeks could hinder voting or delay vote counting

Polls opened Sunday in parliamentary elections that Japan’s prime minister Sanae Takaichi hopes will give her struggling party a big enough win to push through an ambitious conservative political agenda.

Record snowfall in northern Japan over the last few weeks, which blocked roads and was blamed for dozens of deaths nationwide, could hinder voting or delay vote counting in hard-hit areas.

Ms Takaichi is hugely popular, but the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for most of the last seven decades, is not. She called Sunday’s snap elections hoping to turn that around.

FILE - In this photo provided by the Prime Minister's Office of Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, right, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung play drums together after their talks in Nara, western Japan, Jan. 13, 2026. (Prime Minister's Office of Japan via AP, File) (Prime Minister's Office of Japan)

She wants to make progress on a right-wing agenda that aims to boost Japan’s economy and military capabilities as tensions grow with China. She also nurtures ties with her crucial US ally, and a sometimes unpredictable president Donald Trump.

The ultraconservative Takaichi, who took office as Japan’s first female leader in October, pledged to “work, work, work,” and her style, which is seen as both playful and tough, has resonated with younger fans.

The latest surveys indicated a landslide win in the lower house for the LDP. The opposition, despite the formation of a new centrist alliance and a rising far-right, is seen as too splintered to be a real challenger.

Ms Takaichi is betting that her LDP party, together with its new partner, the Japan Innovation Party, will secure a majority in the 465-seat lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament.

Recent surveys by major Japanese newspapers show a possibility that Ms Takaichi’s party could win a simple majority on its own while her coalition could win as many as 300 seats – a big jump from a thin majority it held since a 2024 election loss .

If the LDP fails to win a majority, “I will step down,” she said.

FILE- Visitors look at souvenir items featuring Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at a shop in Nara, Takaichi's hometown, western Japan, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

A big win by Ms Takaichi’s coalition could mean a significant shift to the right in Japan’s security, immigration and other policies. Japan has recently seen far-right populists gain ground, such as the anti-globalist, surging nationalist party Sanseito.

Ms Takaichi has pledged to revise security and defence policies by December to bolster Japan’s offensive military capabilities, lifting a ban on weapons exports and moving further away from the country’s postwar pacifist principles.

She has been pushing for tougher policies on foreigners, anti-espionage and other measures that resonate with a far-right audience but ones that experts say could undermine civil rights.

Ms Takaichi also wants to increase defence spending in response to Trump’s pressure on Japan to loosen its purse strings.

In her campaign speeches, Ms Takaichi stayed away from contentious issues and focused on the economy, tougher immigration and measures on foreigners, including tougher requirements for foreign property owners and a cap on foreign residents.