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Japan Elections: Takaichi Asks Voters To Judge Her on Economy, China|Taiwan Talks EP762



Japan Elections: Takaichi Asks Voters To Judge Her on Economy, China|Taiwan Talks EP762

Japan’s Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae has taken a major political gamble, dissolving parliament less than three months after taking office and calling a snap election that effectively puts her leadership on the line. The move comes amid economic strain, a fractured ruling coalition, and rising regional security tensions driven in large part by China’s actions around Taiwan. Takaichi is seeking a renewed mandate to advance her economic agenda, secure a clearer parliamentary majority and pursue a tougher security posture. But does this rapid political reset promise stability — or greater uncertainty for Japan and the region? In this episode, we analyze the risks and calculations behind Japan’s snap election, possible outcomes, and what the vote could mean for Japan’s security policy, regional partners and Taiwan.

*Recorded on January 22, 2026 at 3:30pm Taiwan Standard Time

Host: Ethan Liu
Producer: Tina Hsu

Our guests:

Kuo Yu-jen
– National Sun Yat-sen University Institute of China and Asia-Pacific Studies Professor and Director
Yu-hua Chen
– Akita International University Assistant Professor

Chapters:
00:00:00 – Japan PM Takaichi Calls Snap Elections
00:06:50 – Takaichi Tests Mandate After 3 Months as PM
00:13:52 – Japan PM Proposes More Spending, Tax Cuts
00:18:41 – Takaichi Focuses on Security, China

#InternationalRelations #Geopolitics #TakaichiSane #LDP #LiberalDemocraticParty #Ishin #Komeito #DPFP #DPP #CDP #JCP #DietDissolution #SnapElection #FlashElection #JapanElection #PrimeMinisterTakaichi #TakaichiCabinet #TakaichiAgenda #PoliticalCrisis #JapanGovernment #JapanParliament #JapanHouseofRepresentatives #UpperHouse #LowerHouse #DietJapan #JapaneseDiet #JapaneseCongress #TakaichiLeadership #Abendomics #SecurityPolicy #JapanDefense #Kantei #GeneralElection #TokyoPolitics #JapanPolitics #Japan #China #Taiwan #Asia #Coalition #NationalSecurity #SecurityChallenges #RegionalSecurity #EconomicPressure #PopularityMandate #PoliticalDeadlock #JapanEconomy #Inflation #ExpandedSpending #TaxCuts #ConsumptionTaxSuspension #TaxationSystem #Reform #YenDepreciation #TaiwanJapanRelations #ChinaJapanRelations #TaiwanPlus #TaiwanTalks

24 Comments

  1. @ArabicReja973 on

    It doesn't matter how many times the Chinese regime repeats the same lies,
    or how angry it pretends to be,
    – Taiwan 🇹🇼 is still an independent country.

  3. @ShunDi4642 on

    Takaichi, like many Japanese politicians, holds revisionist views of Japan's war crimes during the WW2.  It will never earn their neighbours' respect.

  4. @Gw2kitty on

    Takaichi rocks , hoping she can continue separating the wheat from the chaff , threat and progress , friend and foe , even standing up to the bully , do not be apologetic or pacifist anymore . Jpn has done enough for the CN Miracle only to be backstab .

  7. @daimos6686 on

    ✅🤣China made Takaichi popular not only in Japan, but in the whole World. China always a Loser 😂 Propaganda didn't work. It backfired🤣✅

  8. @Live4skills125 on

    No matter how you slice it, Japan has a rough road ahead, and I doubt that the next couple years everything will get better, instead one by one the problems will collapse the house of financial cards.

  15. @thomaskortvelyessy on

    Once again a highly informative discussion that has helped me understand better and gain more insight on politics in the region, in this case Japan. A very positive use of my time!

  18. @ckmassa450 on

    Takaichi Sanae’s political agenda is pushing Japan down a dangerous and deeply contradictory path. Her rhetoric and policy direction lean toward xenophobia while the country is already trapped under an internal public debt of roughly 250% of GDP. Japan is aging rapidly, tax revenues needed to sustain the pension system are shrinking, and labor shortages are becoming structural. At the same time, fueling tensions with China—Japan’s largest trading partner, which absorbs around 20% of its exports—is economically reckless. Calls for higher defense spending coexist with narratives that discourage immigration, even though foreign workers are increasingly essential to keeping Japan’s economy functioning. This is not strategy; it is ideological stubbornness at the expense of economic reality.

  19. @jawedz on

    Greetings from Japan. I would like to add that former U.S. Vice President Dick Chaney was right; deficits don't matter. If the GDP in nominal terms grows above the government bond yield, debt is not a problem, and that has been the case for Japan. In fact government finances have been dramatically improving since the COVID era. Tax intake have been setting records for 5 years in a row, and now it is double the pre COVID era. This is due to economic recovery since 2021 induced by 1.1 trillion jpy spending to counter COVID, combined with quantitative easing by the central bank. The neo-liberal dogma is wrong, government spending will yield results and improve finances, especially in troubling time. The new P.M. wants to dramatically increase government investments for the future in areas like science and research, and defence.

    My impression is that she have long wanted to abolish consumption tax on food. She did state that on some occasions in the past. It is speculated that recently she has been facing resistance on this from her party and the powerful Ministry of Finance, whose wrong and dogmatic austerity ideology has contributed to 30 year stagnation of the Japanese economy. We are the only economy in the world that have stagnated for 30 years, apart from countries at war or U.S. sanctioned countries like Iran, Cuba and North Korea. Hopefully we will get out of this with the boosted investment in future.

    Also, our labour force is still growing, despite ageing and shrinking population, thanks to healthier elderly people that are coming back to the labour force, and foreign workers, mostly from South East Asian countries like Indonesia and Vietnam and others.

    The host asked a good question about the Upper House. If the P.M. wins the House of Representatives election, the new mandate will bolster her legitimacy and give her bigger political power. That will likely incentivise more Upper House law makers and smaller political parties in the Upper Hose to make deals with her. This has happened in the past, like in 2005 when the then P.M. Koizumi push for the privatisation of the Post Office (I was against it).

  24. @horroRomantic444 on

    The elephant in the room is the 1.2 trillion dollar us debt that japan has. If her gambit fails, it becomes a very high possibility the debt will be sold. The world finances could implode on her gambit. Also, it is about forcing the asset class, mostly the elderly to liquidate their holdings, as the young working class perceive them as the reason for their financial woes. They want retribution. The world will be a very different place regardless whether she wins or not the mandate majority of her party. We will be all be taken for a ride.