Japan Party Leaders Make Last-Ditch Appeals to Voters in Closely Contested Constituencies

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:30 JST, February 2, 2026

With election day approaching, leaders of the ruling and opposition parties crisscrossed the nation Sunday seeking support, mainly in closely contested electoral districts. As the official campaign period for the Feb. 8 House of Representatives election passes the halfway point, the parties are trying to strategically reach voters.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is also the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, gave speeches at five locations in Aichi and Gifu prefectures on Sunday.

The LDP won only three of 16 single-seat constituencies in Aichi Prefecture in the 2024 lower house election. Speaking to voters in a street speech in Ichinomiya in the prefecture, Takaichi said: “We will make public- and private-sector investments in growth sectors. We will strengthen Japan’s economy.”

Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura focused on solidifying the party’s base in the Kansai region, its home turf. In Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, Yoshimura highlighted the achievements of his party, including its signature “self-sacrificing reform.” “Japan needs the driving force of an accelerator to move forward its politics,” he said.

Meanwhile, Yoshihiko Noda, coleader of the Centrist Reform Alliance, visited mainly closely contested electoral districts in Tokyo on Sunday. In the 2024 lower house election, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan won half of the 30 single-seat constituencies in Tokyo in the wake of a political funds scandal involving LDP factions. He said Takaichi has not reflected on the scandal. “She is just defiant,” Noda said in his speech in front of JR Shibuya Station.

The CRA was created by the CDPJ and Komeito.

Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, toured four locations in the Tokai and Kanto regions, including Tokyo. In Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, Tamaki stressed that the city is the “most fiercely contested constituency,” and asked voters to make his party “the largest opposition party.”

Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya toured around Tokyo, where his party has fielded candidates in all districts. Speaking in Musashino, Kamiya said, “It is crucial not to let too many foreigners into Japan,” calling for stricter immigration controls.

Tomoko Tamura, chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party, appealed to voters in Chiba Prefecture and Tokyo. “The voice demanding an end to the great military expansion must resonate in the Diet,” Tamura said in her speech in front of JR Shinjuku Station.

Takashi Takai, secretary general of Reiwa Shinsengumi, sought to boost support in Fukuoka Prefecture and elsewhere. Speaking in front of JR Hakata Station, he stressed that abolishing the consumption tax is a core policy the party has advocated since its founding.