Why Japan’s New Prime Minister Is Risking Her Historic Leadership With a Snap Election

Sanae Takaichi made history just a few months ago by becoming Japan’s first female Prime Minister, after her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, resigned as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and she was voted by the party to take his place. But now she’s on the verge of risking it all. Takaichi told senior officials from the LDP and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, that she intended to dissolve the House of Representatives—Japan’s legislative lower but more powerful chamber—to call a snap general election.  It’s a gamble to reassert her authority amid years of the LDP slumping in the polls and political power. The goal, LDP secretary-general Shunichi Suzuki told reporters, is to “at the very least secure a majority” of seats in the 465-member chamber, which the LDP-led coalition just barely holds at 233 thanks to an unsuccessful similar gambit by Ishiba in 2024. The LDP also lost the upper house in 2025 polls, as voters appeared to punish the long-ruling party over a series of scandals and its subsequent failure to reform, giving rise to fringe parties that further throw the LDP’s future electoral victories into uncertainty. Japan isn’t due for another general election until October 2028, but Suzuki said Takaichi wants to dissolve the lower chamber “soon” after the legislative session begins on Jan. 23. Some within Takaichi’s party question the timing. Japanese news outlet Nikkei reported that the leader had not informed even high-ranking LDP members about her decision to call an election early and that “cautious voices” believed the new government needed to put in more work first and later campaign on that. The opposition, meanwhile, has argued that Takaichi’s snap election plan risks delaying the passage of Japan’s fiscal 2026 budget as well as the implementation of new price relief measures, when she promised to address rising prices. Takaichi is expected to officially announce next Monday the details and justification for calling an early election, but opposition parties are already preparing to thwart her. The main opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, is reportedly teaming up with Komeito, which used to be part of the LDP coalition but broke off after the far-right Takaichi became LDP leader. But experts say that Takaichi is betting on strong public approval for political preservation: to assert that she is a leader who could be in power for years and move away from Japan’s revolving-door politics. Takaichi is the fourth Prime Minister the LDP has cycled through since Shinzo Abe, who led since late 2012, stepped down in September 2020. “She’s hoping to rekindle that magic of the Abe era when the LDP ruled supreme,” Jeff Kingston, professor of Asian studies at Temple University’s Japan Campus, tells TIME. To be sure, in her first few months, Takaichi has made quite an impression on the world stage, befriending U.S. President Donald Trump while earning the ire of China—moves that have earned her praise and consistently high approval ratings at home. “She’s been very good at the optics of leadership, about managing the media, about creating a political spectacle that draws positive media attention,” Kingston says, “but she hasn’t actually delivered anything substantial.” “She’s seen as hardworking, relatable, honest, committed to the country, and having stood up to China’s disinformation campaign and economic coercion,” says Stephen Nagy, a professor of international relations at the International Christian University in Tokyo and a visiting fellow with the Japan Institute for International Affairs. But Takaichi still “needs to pursue a positive agenda to strengthen her mandate at home,” Nagy adds, noting that a decisive electoral victory would not only help her to pass her ambitious economic agenda but would also likely bolster her image among international partners like the U.S. “Her approval ratings are sky high, and they’re only going to decline,” says Kingston, who notes her popularity has yet to factor in the yen’s tumble and rising interest rates caused by her expansionary fiscal policies, which could stoke inflation and exacerbate the country’s cost-of-living crisis. “It’s not going to get any better than this for her.”