Takaichi Conveys to Ruling Parties’ Execs Intention to Dissolve Lower House on Early Date of Ordinary Diet Session (UPDATE1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:56 JST, January 14, 2026

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi conveyed Wednesday her intention to dissolve the House of Representatives on an early date of the ordinary Diet session on Jan. 23 to executives of the ruling parties, Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura said after his meeting with Takaichi on Wednesday.

After meeting with Takaichi, the LDP’s Secretary General Shunichi Suzuki told reporters that Takaichi told him about her intention of “the early dissolution of the Diet at the beginning of the upcoming ordinary Diet session.”

“As for the LDP, we will have to accelerate preparations for the election to get ready,” he said.

On the day, Takaichi returned to Tokyo from her hometurf of Nara Prefecture, where she had hosted talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, and met with executives from the ruling parties, such as Yoshimura and Liberal Democratic Party’s Secretary General Shunichi Suzuki, at the Prime Minister’s Office.