Party Leaders Make Final Pitch to Voters on Day Before Poll

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:23 JST, February 7, 2026

Political party leaders made their final pitches to voters on Saturday, the day before the House of Representatives election.

The poll will deliver a verdict on both Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration and the ruling coalition formed in October by the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party. Key campaign issues include economic measures to combat rising prices and proposals for a consumption tax cut.

Takaichi, who also serves as LDP president, has defined victory as the LDP and JIP together securing at least 233 seats — a majority in the lower house. The Centrist Reform Alliance, meanwhile, aims to surpass all other groups to become the largest single party.

The election campaign has primarily revolved around a showdown between the LDP-JIP alliance and the newly formed CRA.

The opposition has failed to forge a cohesive alliance, leaving the camp fragmented. Keeping their distance from the CRA, the Democratic Party for the People and other parties opted to run their own candidates, prioritizing their independent platforms over a unified strategy.

On Saturday, the final day of campaigning, party leaders took to the streets to make their last appeals to voters.

After a meeting with party officials at the LDP headquarters in the morning, Takaichi stumped for candidates in four hotly contested constituencies in Tokyo. The LDP also dispatched other senior party officials and Cabinet ministers to provide a final boost in tight races across the country.

Addressing a crowd in Tokyo’s Kachidoki district on Saturday morning, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi sounded a note of caution: “The opposition is desperate. We should not let our guard down.”

CRA coleader Yoshihiko Noda spent the final day stumping across key Tokyo battlegrounds, including Hachioji, to solicit a final push from his supporters. He concentrated his energy on securing the support of those critical of the Takaichi administration, seeking to consolidate opposition votes for the CRA.

Fumitake Fujita, coleader of the JIP stumped in Toyono, Osaka Prefecture, where he underscored the party’s vital role. “The JIP serves as both the accelerator and the engine for the Takaichi administration,” Fujita declared.

DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki raised his voice on the streets of Tokyo, pledging to “further advance politics from the perspective of taxpayers.”

Meanwhile, Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya began his final day of stumping in Sendai, rallying supporters for a last-minute push.