Japan votes big, markets brace for the ‘Takaichi trade’

Sanae Takaichi has secured a historic landslide, handing her coalition a two-thirds supermajority and one of the strongest mandates in post-war Japan.

The win clears the path for bold policies - tax relief on food, a massive stimulus push, and a tougher security stance - but it also reignites fears over debt, inflation, and the Bank of Japan’s uneasy exit from ultra-easy money.

Markets are already reacting, with stocks cheering policy clarity while pressure builds on the yen and long-dated bonds as investors position for what’s being dubbed the renewed “Takaichi trade.”