2026 POLLS: Party Leaders Stump in Key Constituencies

Tokyo, Feb. 5 (Jiji Press)--Japanese political party leaders are visiting key constituencies in the campaigning for Sunday's election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gave a street speech in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, on Wednesday, seeking to firm up support for her ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the prefecture's No. 4 constituency, which the party sees as a fierce battlefield between it and the Centrist Reform Alliance, a newly established party, in the election.

She also visited the No. 3 and No. 6 constituencies in Kyoto Prefecture, which the LDP regards as crucial areas for the election.

On Monday, Takaichi and other LDP executives met and narrowed down the party's key constituencies to about 70. While some anticipate a landslide victory for the LDP, a person related to the party said, "That's not how I feel."

The Japan Innovation Party, the LDP's current coalition partner, is prioritizing victory in all 19 constituencies in its home prefecture of Osaka, after taking them all in the previous Lower House election in 2024. JIP leader Hirofumi Yoshimura toured the prefecture on Wednesday.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]