Sanae Takaichi, Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks at the Liberal Democratic Party election rally in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture, Tuesday, February 3, 2026. Traders are bracing for increased volatility as the February 8th House of Representatives election approaches. Photographer: Soichiro Koriyama/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is poised to lead his ruling coalition to a landslide victory in this weekend’s snap general election, a Nikkei opinion poll showed.
Opinion polls conducted from Tuesday to Thursday showed that the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Japan Ishin no Kai, are likely to secure more than 300 of the 465 seats in the House of Representatives.
The findings are in line with an earlier opinion poll by Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun, which also predicted the ruling party would win more than 300 seats.
According to a Nikkei poll, the Central Reform Alliance, an alliance between the Constitutional Democratic Party and New Komeito Party, is expected to almost halve its number of seats from its current 167 seats.
Another Kyodo News poll suggests that the Liberal Democratic Party could secure a single-party majority of 233 seats or more.
According to the Nikkei Shimbun, the Liberal Democratic Party is currently aiming to exceed the 261-seat threshold that would allow it to control all committees and the chairmanship of the Diet.
A two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives would also give the ruling party the power to override the Senate’s veto of the bill.
The election follows the political turmoil of last year, when the Liberal Democratic Party lost its majority in the House of Councilors, and the political upheaval that followed a defeat in the House of Representatives in 2024 that led then-Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to resign in September.
The poll came after US President Donald Trump publicly expressed support for the ruling coalition and announced in a post on Truth Social that he planned to meet with Takaichi on March 19.
President Trump added, “I am honored to fully and completely support her and what the coalition she respects represents. She has no intention of letting the Japanese people down!”
Takaichi has staked his political future on this election and has declared that he will resign if the ruling party fails to secure a majority.
The highly conservative prime minister has a high personal approval rating and is trying to convert that popularity into votes for the Liberal Democratic Party and the coalition government.
Christy Gobela, Japan chair of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, previously told CNBC that an apparent victory would reflect Takaichi’s personal popularity rather than an improvement in Japan’s economic situation.
“Nothing else has changed since July, when the Liberal Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat in the polls,” Gobela added.
