Japan snap election: Who’s standing and what’s at stake?

EXPLAINERJapanese are voting on issues ranging from cost of living to constitutional reform.Published On 7 Feb 2026Japanese voters head to the polls this weekend for a snap election called by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who became the country’s first female prime minister in October last year.While she has only been in power for a few months, Takaichi is enormously popular in Japan and hopes to translate that goodwill into more seats for the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the lower house of parliament.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4The weapons the US has in place as it threatens to attack Iranlist 2 of 4Gaza patients head to Rafah crossing as people return amid Israeli attackslist 3 of 4Man charged with ‘terrorism’ for bomb at Indigenous protest in Australialist 4 of 4Why are gold prices soaring and the dollar in decline?end of listHere’s what you need to know:When will the election take place, and who will participate?The upcoming vote will be held on Sunday, February 8, for all 465 seats in the House of Representatives. There are more than 1,200 candidates on the ballot, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK World.Parties include the LDP, the new Centrist Reform Alliance, the Japan-innovation-party" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="10718" data-entity-type="organization">Japan Innovation Party, the Democratic Party for the People, the Japanese Communist Party and the Conservative Party of Japan, among others.There are approximately 105 million registered voters in Japan. More than 4.5 million have already taken part in early voting, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Monday.What are the key issues for this election?The rising cost of living is front and centre in this election. Consumer prices are on the rise while real wage growth is lagging behind inflation, so paycheques are not going as far as they once did.Japan also has a longstanding problem with slow economic growth. The economy only grew 1.1 percent last year, and it is on track to grow by just 0.7 percent in 2026, according to the IMF. The “goldilocks” rate of economic growth considered healthy for a developed nation is between 2 percent and 3 percent.