A Resounding Victory Over the Communist Party! Takashi Sanae's Vote Share Reaches 88.7%, While Pro-China Candidate Okada Katsu Loses

Takashi Sanae led the Liberal Democratic Party to a significant victory, securing two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly. (People's Daily/AI-generated image)

 [People News] On February 8, the votes were counted for the 51st election of the Japanese House of Representatives. The Liberal Democratic Party, under the leadership of Prime Minister Takashi Sanae, staged what can be described as one of the most thrilling election campaigns in history. As of the time of this report, the ruling coalition formed by the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party has already won 331 seats, comfortably surpassing the two-thirds threshold of 310 seats in the House of Representatives. Emerging parties such as the 'Future Team' and the 'Participation Party' have made significant gains, celebrating their success. In stark contrast, the pro-China faction known as the 'Centre Reform Coalition', which has consistently campaigned against Takashi, has suffered a dramatic loss, securing only 34 seats. This election is set to dramatically reshape the future landscape of Japan's National Assembly.

On an individual level, Takashi Sanae achieved an impressive vote share of 88.7% in her electoral district, 'Nara 2nd District', far outpacing her sole competitor, Ikeda Eiko from the Japanese Communist Party, who garnered only 11.3% of the votes.

According to a report by the Liberty Times, Takamori Saimei garnered around 128,000 votes in the Nara District 2 during the 2024 House of Representatives election, achieving a remarkable vote rate of 60.19%, significantly outpacing other opposition candidates. Once again, Takamori Saimei has set an impressive vote rate, prompting netizens to comment, 'While the result is hard to accept, it is still shocking,' 'The fact that the Communist Party still has 11% is a tragedy for humanity,' 'To avoid the Liberal Democratic Party, 11% of people would rather choose the Communist Party?' 'An overwhelming victory, as if this was expected,' and 'In a sense, this is a battle between democracy and communism, and democracy has triumphed decisively.' 

On February 8, pro-China politician Okada Katsuya lost his election, signalling that the Japanese public is saying NO to the Chinese Communist Party! (Video screenshot) 

Okada Katsuya, a prominent member of the pro-China 'Centrist Reform Coalition,' was unable to retain his district in this House of Representatives election, resulting in his defeat. Okada had previously held positions as Foreign Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and party leader during the Democratic Party's administration, and his loss is seen as a clear message from Japanese voters rejecting pro-China influences. 

Last year, during a parliamentary inquiry, Okada pressed Prime Minister Takamori Saimei on her views regarding 'Taiwan's situation.' Takamori indicated that a crisis in Taiwan could pose an existential threat to Japan, which led to a backlash from the Chinese Communist Party, resulting in ongoing economic pressure on her administration and demands for her to retract her comments. Additionally, Okada's family has long been involved in the department store business in China, which the Japanese public views as a form of support for China, and his overt pro-China stance is considered one of the key reasons for his defeat this time.

In the previous election, Okada faced Ishihara Masatake from the Liberal Democratic Party in Mie District 3, winning by over 80,000 votes. However, this time he was overshadowed by Ishihara, trailing behind after the vote counting began and ultimately unable to recover. As Okada was not re-nominated for the proportional representation, his defeat is now assured. △