Parties Launch Battle of Words Ahead of Lower House Election; Major Parties in Focus as Smaller Parties Seek to Distinguish Themselves

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:20 JST, January 25, 2026

Party leaders and executives have begun a battle of words ahead of the House of Representatives election next month.

Official campaigning for the election starts on Tuesday, with voting and ballot counting set for Feb. 8.

The lower house election is shaping up to be a contest between two major forces: the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Centrist Reform Alliance, a new party formed by the main opposition parties — the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito — and involving other, smaller parties.

Both the ruling and opposition parties are putting their efforts into getting their election pledges across to voters.

On Saturday, party leaders debated their policies during a panel discussion broadcast online, the first such event since the lower house was dissolved last week.

“We will drastically boost security policies,” said Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who also serves as LDP president. “No one will protect a country that lacks the spirit and the strength to defend itself.”

Referring to establishing a law to penalize desecration of the national flag, a policy she has been calling for, Takaichi said, “We need [the law] to protect Japan’s honor, and I will surely realize that law.”

CRA coleader Yoshihiko Noda spoke about economic policy. “The middle class is increasingly suffering from poverty because of a failure to redistribute wealth,” he said. “We will promote policies that prioritize ordinary citizens.”

Takaichi and Noda traded blows over some issues, including the relocation of the U.S. military’s Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.

“Komeito supported the relocation plan, so what stance will [the CRA] take?” Takaichi asked Noda.

Noda replied, “Taking into account the voices of the people in the prefecture is the way to respond to the broadest possible base of voters,” he said.

Takaichi, finding the response ambiguous, asked about the party’s position again, to which Noda replied, “We’re taking a cautious position.”

In relation to Takaichi’s remark in the Diet about a Taiwan contingency possibly constituting a “survival-threatening situation,” Noda said that Japan has been labelled as a militarist country and that the prime minister should “peel off” that label. The prime minister responded by saying she has been holding meetings with leaders of other countries and explaining her perspective.

Meanwhile, other parties are apparently trying to avoid being overshadowed by the two major parties by stressing their own unique characteristics.

On the same day, Fumitake Fujita, coleader of the LDP’s coalition partner the Japan Innovation Party, made a roadside speech in Koto Ward, Tokyo. “The LDP is not so fast to act,” he said. “The JIP’s role is to get the party to make a move. We are the engine and accelerator of the Takaichi administration.”

On a street in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki also spoke to the public. “The amount of money left in your hand isn’t increasing because of rising prices,” Tamaki said. “We will carry out policies that will increase your take-home pay.”

During the panel discussion, Sanseito, which is touting its “Japanese-First” policy, made its stance clear. “We will establish a system that allows Japanese people to play a central role in operating the country,” party leader Sohei Kamiya said. “We will make sure to limit the number of foreign workers accepted into the country.”