Japanese PM's governing party secures supermajority in parliamentary elections

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's governing party secured a two-thirds supermajority in parliamentary elections.

The landslide victory allows her to pursue a significant conservative shift in Japan's security, immigration and other policies.

NHK, citing results of vote counts, said Japanese Prime Minsiter Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, alone secured 316 seats by early Monday.

That comfortably beats a 261-seat absolute majority in the 465-member lower house, the more powerful of Japan's two-chamber parliament.

This marks a record since the party's foundation in 1955 and surpasses the previous record of 300 seats won in 1986 by late Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.

With 36 seats won by its new ally, Japan Innovation Party, Takaichi's ruling coalition has won 352 seats.

In a televised interview following her victory, Takaichi said she will emphasise policies meant to make Japan strong and prosperous.

The Japanese prime minister said she would try to gain support from the opposition while firmly pushing forward with her policy goals, adding she would "be flexible."

Despite the lack of a majority in the upper house, the huge jump from the preelection share in the superior lower house will likely allow Takaichi to make progress on a right-wing agenda

as tensions grow with China and she tries to nurture ties with the United States.

The first major task for Takaichi when the lower house reconvenes in mid-February is to work on a budget bill, delayed by the election, to fund economic measures that address rising costs and sluggish wages.

Takaichi has pledged to revise security and defence policies by December to bolster Japan's offensive military capabilities, lifting a ban on weapons exports and moving further away

from the country's postwar pacifist principles.

US President Donald Trump congratulated Takaichi after her victory. He said Takaichi "is a highly respected and very popular Leader and her bold and wise decision to call for an election paid off big time."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Bejing's policy towards Japan "will not be changed by one particular election." The Foreign Ministry said China urges Japan's prime minister to withdraw her remarks on Taiwan.

Takaichi sparked a diplomatic row with China in November after she said an attack by Beijing on Taiwan could amount to a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan and potentially trigger a military response.