Overview
- Parliament reinstalled Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday and she re-formed an unchanged second Cabinet, opening a 150-day special Diet session focused first on passing the delayed fiscal 2026 budget.
- The House of Representatives elected Eisuke Mori as speaker and Keiichi Ishii as vice speaker, setting the chamber’s leadership for the new session.
- With 316 of 465 lower-house seats, the LDP can override the upper house as it moves on a two-year suspension of the food consumption tax, expanded defense and arms export reforms, and new intelligence and anti-espionage legislation.
- Takaichi is set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on March 19 as Washington announced the first projects under Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge, including critical minerals in Georgia, energy facilities in Texas, and power generation in Ohio.
- Investors cheered the election with a stock surge, but analysts and the IMF have flagged risks from large fiscal outlays, rising debt-servicing costs and potential pressure on inflation and bond yields.