Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged Saturday to make Japan "more prosperous and safer", including through tougher immigration screening, in a final appeal to voters on the eve of snap elections.
Opinion polls suggest that Takaichi's ruling bloc, led by the Liberal Democratic Party, could romp home in Sunday's vote and secure a two-thirds majority in the powerful lower house.
"Pushing the button for growth is the Takaichi cabinet's job. Japan will become more and more prosperous and safer," Takaichi, 64, told a campaign rally attended by thousands in Tokyo.
"This is the year in which we want to turn the anxieties people feel about their lives today and about the future into hope," she said.
Her tough talk on immigration appears, for now, to have slowed the sharp rise of the populist "Japanese first" Sanseito party, which did well in upper house elections last year.
Immigration screening "has already become a little stricter, so that terrorists, and also industrial spies, cannot enter easily," Takaichi said Saturday. "We must properly examine whether (foreigners) are paying taxes, whether they are paying their health insurance premiums."
She added that she wanted "a Japanese archipelago where, no matter where you live, you can live safely, where you can receive the medical care and welfare support you need, where you can receive high-quality education, and where proper workplaces and jobs exist."
"But in order to do that, we have to make the economy stronger. Healthcare costs money. Welfare costs money. Education also requires investment. So we must build a strong economy," she said.
Surveys ahead of the election indicate -- with some caution due to undecided voters -- that the LDP will easily win more than the 233 seats needed to regain a majority.
Together with the LDP's coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), Takaichi's ruling bloc could even win a two-thirds majority.
The last time this happened was in 2017 under assassinated ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- Takaichi's mentor.
The new Centrist Reform Alliance of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and the LDP's previous partner Komeito could shed half of their 167 seats.
"I came just to have a look at her. I think she is amazing," said Yuka Ando, 17, a high-school student who came with her mother to the rally despite the cold weather that has dumped heavy snow across northern Japan.
"As she is the first woman PM, it makes her look special, too. Thanks to her, I became interested in politics," Ando told AFP.
Jeff Kingston, professor of history at Temple University Japan, told AFP he expects Takaichi's gamble of calling elections to pay off.
"She will gain a strong mandate and probably a standalone majority that will help her enact an ambitious array of economic and security reforms," he said.
China though, will be watching.
When she was barely two weeks in office, Takaichi suggested that Japan would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take self-ruled Taiwan by force.
China has never ruled democratic Taiwan, but Beijing claims the island as part of its territory and has not ruled out force to annex it.
China summoned Tokyo's ambassador, warned its citizens against visiting Japan and conducted joint air drills with Russia around the archipelago.
Takaichi's economic policies, including a $135-billion stimulus package, have also worried investors.
Last month, yields on long-term Japanese bonds hit record highs after Takaichi pledged temporarily to exempt food from a consumption tax to ease the pain of inflation on households.
© 2026 AFP
11 Comments
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Sanjinosebleed
Hopefully she doesn’t romp home as she is taking japan down a dangerous path and her constant gaffes have put japan in a difficult situation. If they had of gotten rid of Noda I think the CDP would have done better. The media’s absolute stonewalling of her significant unification church connections has definitely helped…
kurisupisu
Yes, PM Takaichi is correct.
However, she thinks that by singling out foreigners that are not paying their fair share of the tax burden will somehow save Japan?
She is barking up the wrong tree.
Tamarama
Well, if this is what she said on immigration:
That just sounds sensible for everyone. Foreigners who live and work here should be paying taxes, and the first part is about national security, so also sensible. She's hardly 'talking tough' on immigration.
I really like this part though:
I'd like to see Japanese women become more empowered, more ambitious. Japan needs it. I'd like them to aspire less to be a housewife and more aspirational to lead in this country, and for it to be a viable social pathway.
divinda
It completely amazes me how not only is the current immigration "problem" a direct result of the LDP's policy for the past decade plus, during which time they have been continually in power, but that the opposition continually fails to ever point this out.
The same can be said about over tourism.
And the economy, And inflation. And the weak yen.
Newgirlintown
How about Japanese people not paying their taxes and pensions etc? Why only ‘foreigners’.
Monty
We must properly examine whether (foreigners) are paying taxes, whether they are paying their health insurance premiums."
Nothing to complain here.
In every country of the world you have to pay your taxes. If you don't do that, you get in trouble.
And if you can not pay your doctor's or hospital bills, you will also get in trouble.
Simple as that.
Spitfire
divindaToday 06:49 am JST
Same here.
stick_out_nail
but all violent and terrorist activities in Japan were committed by Japanese.
Spitfire
It is like the media is already terrified of her since they never mentioned her close ties to the Unification Church.
if it is like this now how bad is it going to get.
sakurasuki
Strong economy need to have good productive working population, which something Japan currently doesn't have. So the answer to that is foreign workforce, which should be included in that sentences.
Something Japan will difficult to admit, even currently is already on going.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japan-faces-shortage-almost-million-foreign-workers-2040-think-tank-says-2024-07-04/
FizzBit
Videos of muslims praying in the streets of Japan are going more viral. The local government is not doing their job.