Can Japan’s Sanae Takaichi beat the heat with a snap election? By Gearoid Reidy / Bloomberg OpinionJapanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reportedly hates the summer. A win could restore the LDP’s majority in the lower house, lost in 2024 under former Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba. It all risks being seen as self-serving — at a time voters would prefer to hold her to her promise to “work, work, work, work, work” on issues such as inflation. Remember the lesson of former Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga, who enjoyed Takaichi-like polling numbers when he replaced Abe in 2020.

Source: Taipei Times January 15, 2026 16:45 UTC