Japan Prime Minister plans snap election, party official says

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to dissolve parliament next week and call a snap general election, the secretary general of her ruling party said on Wednesday.

Takaichi is considering an election date of February 8, a source with knowledge of the matter said, in line with earlier reports by domestic media.

"We need to seek a fresh mandate," Shunichi Suzuki, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters after meeting Takaichi on Wednesday.

Japan's first female prime minister, Takaichi is seeking to capitalise on a surge in public support for her government since she came to office in October.

Suzuki said the ballot would allow voters to cast their verdict on the LDP's new coalition with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, after Takaichi cut ties last year with a longstanding liberal partner, Komeito.

"One reason for dissolving parliament is that the previous election was under the LDP–Komeito government; the public has not yet rendered a verdict on the change in our coalition partner," Suzuki added.

Takaichi will lay out her election plans at a press conference on Monday, he added.

The vote will also offer a chance to test public appetite for plans to boost government spending to revive growth and increase defence outlays under a revised national security strategy, Suzuki said.

Reports last week that Takaichi was considering a snap poll triggered a sell-off in Japan's yen and government bonds as investors fretted over how one of the world's most indebted advanced economies would fund her fiscal expansion plans.

The news also comes amid the worst diplomatic dispute in more than a decade with powerful neighbour China, triggered by Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan, and ahead of a planned visit to Washington to meet President Donald Trump in the spring.

As the timing of the vote may make it tricky for parliament to pass the 2026 budget by the March end of the current fiscal year, Takaichi is considering a stopgap spending plan, the Yomiuri newspaper has said.

-Tamiyuki Kihara and Kantaro Komiya/Reuters