Japan's snap election could upend long standing political alignments, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi strong personally but her party weakened by scandals, defections and voter frustration over the cost of living.

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is a huge electoral machine that has governed the nation for all but four years since its founding 70 years ago.

By Satoshi Sugiyama TOKYO, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Japan's main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito have agreed to form a new political party, their leaders said on Thursday, in an attempt to present a united front against a ruling camp that they see as too right-leaning.

A campaign vehicle for the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan during the 2024 general election cycle. The Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), currently the largest opposition party in both chambers of the Diet, is undertaking a drastic moderation of its policy platform.

If we define the opposition party not by dictionary but politically, it would be the political force that causes the president the most headaches. In that sense, the Democratic Party was a clear opposition party during the Yoon Suk-yeol government.

(Corrects name of party mentioned in the third sub-headline from the top to Centrist Reform Alliance, not Central Reform Alliance) By Leika Kihara TOKYO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's decision to call a snap general election on February 8 to seek voter backing for her reflationist policies pushed bond yields to multi-decade highs,