Japan Launches Voting in Key General Election

(MENAFN) Japan launched voting Sunday morning in a critical general election that will determine control of 465 parliamentary seats in the House of Representatives—the nation's dominant legislative chamber.

The electoral outcome will decide whether the governing alliance between the Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party retains majority control and permits Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration to continue, or whether opposition forces will gain sufficient strength to block that scenario.

Ballot boxes nationwide are scheduled to close at 8 p.m. local time, with vote tabulation projected to extend deep into evening hours.

More than 1,200 contenders entered the race for the 465-seat chamber. The electoral system allocates 289 positions through single-member constituency contests, while the remaining 176 slots will be filled via proportional representation spanning 11 regional voting blocks across the archipelago.

The outcome will shape Japan's political trajectory as Takaichi's ruling coalition seeks to defend its parliamentary dominance against an opposition push to fracture the government's legislative grip.

MENAFN08022026000045017169ID1110711589