Overview
- The one-year anniversary, which fell on Wednesday, comes after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi led the LDP-JIP coalition to office and then to a landslide lower house win in February.
- Former agriculture minister Kazuo Yana resigned last week after admitting he told local leaders he cut road funding over election opposition and facing allegations about a campaign shuttle bus while parliament intensely questioned his conduct.
- Takaichi has made a two-year cut of the consumption tax on food and beverages from 8% to 1% a top priority, leaving an annual funding gap of about five trillion yen that has unnerved investors and pushed benchmark bond yields to multi-decade highs.
- Opinion polls show support still broadly intact but softening, with surveys ranging from the high 40s to low 60s and a Kyodo News reading dropping below 50 percent, raising the risk of growing unrest inside the LDP ahead of a leadership contest next year.
- Beyond domestic politics, Takaichi's first year featured tougher defence moves and tense ties with China after her Taiwan remarks while she deepened engagement with the United States, a mix that complicates the government’s near-term legislative agenda.