Overview
- After dissolving the chamber on Jan. 23, the campaign will open Jan. 27 with voting and counting on Feb. 8, according to her timetable.
- Takaichi said she is putting her political future on the line as she asks for a mandate to accelerate a new security strategy.
- Her platform features a two-year halt to the 8% consumption tax on food, which government estimates say would cut revenue by about ¥5 trillion annually.
- Japanese stocks climbed on the snap-election prospect while 10-year government bond yields hit a 27-year high on the tax-cut signal.
- Opposition forces moved to consolidate as the Constitutional Democratic Party and Komeito announced a merger into a centrist Reform Party after Komeito quit the LDP coalition in October.