<figure id="attachment_454011" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-454011" style="width: 2000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="63ed89bd"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/01/99b8554605ab0c48e71a43abf4eccbe0.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-454011" class="wp-caption-text">The Japan Innovation Party, headed by Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura (center), is in coalition with Prime Minister Takaichi&#8217;s (right) Liberal Democratic Party. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h2> General election cost 60 billion yen</h2>
 The Nagata-cho area is in turmoil after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (64) reportedly decided to hold a snap general election.
 The LDP is the minority ruling party in both houses of the Diet. If the LDP were to win the election and secure a majority of seats in both houses of the Diet, it would be able to push the LDP&#8217;s color to the forefront and manage its policies.
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 However, Prime Minister Takaichi has long indicated that he will give priority to measures to deal with the high prices of commodities, which are causing the public to scream, and he has said that he has &#8220;not thought about dissolving the LDP.
 &#8220;I am not thinking about it.
 He has repeatedly stated that he is &#8220;not thinking&#8221; about dissolving the Diet. Since he is now reversing his position, we wonder if this is not a &#8220;blinkered dissolution&#8221; in order to avoid being pursued in the ordinary Diet session over allegations that he is involved with the former Unification Church and corporate donations, both of which have been widely reported in Nagata-cho recently.
 &#8220;Could this be a blindfolded dissolution?&#8221;
 Some people in the political world have suggested that the dissolution is a &#8220;blinkered dissolution. According to a source in the political world.
 The dissolution of the Diet has been supported by the astonishingly high approval rating of the Takaichi administration in various surveys. The percentage of support for the Takaichi administration in various polls has been boosted by the dissolution of the government,&#8221; said a political insider. What pushed Takaichi to dissolve the government even more was the LDP&#8217;s own data, which showed that if a general election were held early, the LDP would win 260 seats by itself. They must have played the dissolution card so as not to let this opportunity pass them by.&#8221;
 If elections are to be held, the sooner the better.
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 Prime Minister Takaichi is planning to dissolve the House of Representatives at the beginning of the ordinary Diet session to be convened on January 23, with the vote to be held on February 8. While it is true that &#8220;strike while the iron is hot,&#8221; holding a third national election in one year and four months is indeed too much. The cost of the election is said to be 60 billion yen. It is no wonder that the people, who are suffering from high prices, are fed up.
 In addition, the &#8220;LDP overwhelming victory data,&#8221; which Prime Minister Takaichi and his colleagues have been claiming has increased their confidence, is being called &#8220;eyebrow-raising&#8221; by some in the party. A source in the ruling party is quoted as saying, &#8220;The LDP has a strong showing in every election.
 The LDP conducts a survey of the situation in every election, but the figures are always inflated and optimistic. It is not uncommon for them to find that they have a tough fight on their hands. They may have misjudged the situation this time as well.
 He pointed out, &#8220;I think they may have misjudged the situation this time as well.
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<figure id="attachment_454012" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-454012" style="width: 1333px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="e5fda25a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/01/2bf2b3c43e91e96ad0e4e5c584b26426.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-454012" class="wp-caption-text">Osaka Governor Yoshimura Announces Decision to Hold &#8220;Double Election&#8221; with Dissolution of General Election</figcaption></figure>
<h2> Criticized for &#8220;privatizing the election</h2>
 In fact, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has launched a new party with the New Komeito Party. If the Komeito votes, said to be about 20,000 per district, are shifted away from the LDP and added to the Rikken, there will be many electoral districts that will be reversed from the previous election.
 While the Takaichi administration enjoys a high approval rating, the Japan Innovation Party, which forms a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party, has a sluggish approval rating of around 3%. It is unlikely that the party will be able to hold its own in the next election in the Kanto and other regions. Recently, it has also come to light that some members of the local Ishin party have been evading the so-called &#8220;national health insurance&#8221; system. The lawmakers were said to have kept their social insurance payments low by serving as directors of general incorporated associations.
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 The Ishin quality is that scandals occur among their own people at the &#8220;critical moment. The current case of the National Health Insurance evasion is a case of the people who pay their premiums in a proper manner saying, &#8216;Screw you! The Liberal Democratic Party, which forms a coalition with the Ishin government, is also in the same boat. Even the Liberal Democratic Party, which forms a coalition, was frowning.
 The two leaders of the coalition, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura (50) and Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama (44), resigned midway through their terms of office on January 16. The election will be a double election with the Lower House election as a &#8220;rerun election for governor and mayor&#8221; in conjunction with the next Lower House election, but even if they win the election, their terms of office will remain unchanged until April 2015.
 Naturally, many people are asking, &#8220;What&#8217;s the point?&#8221; The &#8220;Osaka metropolitan government&#8221; is a long-held dream of the &#8220;Osaka Metropolis&#8221; concept.
 The reason for this is apparently to promote the &#8220;Osaka Metropolis Plan,&#8221; a long-held dream, but the plan was already rejected in referendums in 2003 and 2008. On that occasion, Mr. Yoshimura himself said
 &#8220;I don&#8217;t think I will challenge the Osaka Metropolis plan again.
 On that occasion, Mr. Yoshimura himself said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think I will challenge the metropolitan government concept anymore.
 When I heard the first news of Governor Yoshimura&#8217;s resignation, I thought he was finally going to run for national office,&#8221; said a political commentator.
 When I heard the first news of Governor Yoshimura&#8217;s resignation, I thought he was finally going to enter national politics,&#8221; said political commentator Harumi Arima. In an interview with this website, he said,
 Even within the Restoration Association, there are many who have a cold opinion about the rerun election. They may reason that the double election on the same day as the lower house election will not cost them anything, but they may be criticized for privatizing the election. Governor Yoshimura probably wants to realize the metropolitan government concept that Toru Hashimoto and Ichiro Matsui were unable to achieve in the past.
 He is probably hoping to realize the metropolitan vision that Hashimoto Toru and Matsui Ichiro were unable to achieve in the past. Another political insider said, &#8220;The Osaka Metropolis concept is ostensibly a plan to create a metropolitan government.
 In reality, the Osaka Metropolis plan is a superficial reason, but in reality, it is probably to draw public attention by clashing the date of the election with that of the lower house election, which will be covered widely by the media. If they lose the general election, there is a possibility that they will be excluded from the coalition. For the Restoration Association, this general election is a critical moment.
 He said, &#8220;For the Ishin, this general election is a critical moment.
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 Not only within the Restoration Association, but also among Osaka citizens, the &#8220;double election&#8221; is causing a mood of apathy. It is only natural that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which forms a coalition with the Restoration Association, will not run a candidate in the mayoral and gubernatorial elections.
 We will not participate in this farce.
 The opposition party, the Rikken, has indicated that it will not field a candidate, saying, &#8220;We will not participate in this farce. If there is no strong opposition, then naturally there will be little excitement. This is probably why the people of the prefecture are looking at the situation with a cold eye.
 The move to dissolve the Diet, which Prime Minister Takaichi is confidently planning, is sure to cause great confusion in the political arena.

 Takeshi Kinugawa

 Osaka Governor Yoshimura, the leader of The Japan Innovation Party, which has formed a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party, has announced a "double election" to be held on the same day as the dissolution of the general election. ......

Osaka Governor Yoshimura&#8217;s &#8220;double election&#8221; is met with a mood of disinterest by both the Ishin Restoration Association and the people of Osaka.

Osaka Governor Yoshimura’s “double election” is met with a mood of disinterest by both the Ishin Restoration Association and the people of Osaka.

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