TOKYO: Japanese voters trudged through snow on Sunday to cast their ballots in an election predicted to hand Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi a resounding win, though record dumps in some parts of the country snarled traffic and could dent turnout.
The conservative coalition of Takaichi, the nation’s first female leader, is on track to win around 300 of the 465 seats in the lower house of parliament, according to multiple opinion polls, a large gain from the 233 it is defending.
Outside a polling station in a small town in the central prefecture of Niigata, where snow piled up more than 2 meters (7 feet) in places, teacher Kazushige Cho, 54, said he was determined to vote for Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party despite the conditions.
“She’s shown strong leadership and pushes various policies forward,” he said. “I think things could turn out quite well.”
Takaichi rides ‘Sanakatsu’ wave among young voters
