Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the House of Representatives election (general election) held on the 8th, securing the largest number of seats ever. There is an assessment that he has solidified his leadership in future political affairs by single-handedly passing the two-thirds of the seats, which is the threshold for proposing a constitutional amendment.
According to Japanese media such as Kyodo News and NHK, the Liberal Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, won 316 of the 465 seats. This figure exceeds the constitutional amendment proposal line of 310 seats, which is an increase of 128 seats from the existing number of 198 seats.
This is the first time that the Liberal Democratic Party has exceeded 300 seats in the House of Representatives since 304 seats in 1986 during the Yasuhiro Nakasone administration. Even during the administration of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, major victories continued in the general election, but the Liberal Democratic Party failed to surpass 300 seats. Japanese media reported that this was the first time that a single political party secured more than two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives after the war.
If more than two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives are secured, bills rejected by the House of Councilors can be re-approved, greatly strengthening the ruling party’s influence in the legislative process.
The coalition partner Japan Yushinkai also increased its seats from 34 to 36. The ruling party’s total number of seats was 352, exceeding 75% of the total.
On the other hand, the largest opposition party, the Center for Reform Coalition, which previously had 167 seats, fell significantly, securing only 49 seats. This coalition, formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party and Komeito Party just before the general election, won only 7 out of 289 constituencies. Co-CEO Yoshihiko Noda took responsibility and announced his intention to resign.
The People’s Democratic Party maintained the same level as before with 28 seats. The Chamjeong Party won 15 seats, and the new political party Thim Mirai won 11 seats.
The background to this election victory is Prime Minister Takaichi’s high personal approval rating and active nationwide campaign. Prime Minister Takaichi faced negative public opinion at the time of his decision to disband the government early, but he turned the situation around by campaigning under the slogan of ‘strong Japan’. The distance traveled during the campaign period was calculated to exceed 12,000 km.
With this victory, Prime Minister Takaichi has strengthened his control within the party. In the future, it is expected that active fiscal economic policies and conservative security policies will be promoted in earnest.
In particular, policies that have already shown commitment, such as strengthening defense capabilities, easing arms export regulations, creating the National Intelligence Service, and enacting laws against damaging the national flag, are expected to accelerate. The possibility of reorganizing the security system by revising Article 9 of the Constitution is also discussed.
As a result of the general election, the number of seats favored by constitutional amendments, including the Liberal Democratic Party, Yushinhoe, People’s Democratic Party, and True Justice Party, was 395, far exceeding the initiative standard. However, in order to propose a constitutional amendment, the approval of more than two-thirds of the House of Councilors is required, so it is not easy to push it forward in a short period of time. The next House of Councilors election is scheduled for the summer of 2028.
Prime Minister Takaichi did not directly mention the issue of constitutional amendment in a broadcast interview, but expressed his intention to retain most of his cabinet members in the new cabinet, saying, “I wanted to be evaluated for the great change in economic and fiscal policy.”
The voter turnout for this general election was recorded at 56.26%. Although it rose slightly from the previous general election, it is the fifth lowest level by post-war standards. Due to the cold wave and snowfall forecast, the number of early voters reached 27.01 million, a record high. It has been 36 years since a general election was held in Japan in February.
Reporter Kim Myeong-seon kms@etnews.com
date: 2026-02-09 00:53:00
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