Japanese people rally to protest against PM's decision to dissolve lower house

A group of Japanese rallied in Tokyo on Thursday evening, protesting against the cabinet's decision to dissolve the House of Representatives, the lower house.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office in October, announced on Monday that she will dissolve the 465-seat lower house on Friday, with a general election scheduled for Feb. 8, aiming to capitalize on her cabinet's current high approval ratings.

The official campaign will start next Tuesday, creating a mere 16-day campaign period, the shortest in Japan's postwar history.

With more than two years left in the current lower house term, Takaichi has justified her decision to call a snap election by arguing she has yet to receive public backing for her premiership that began in October and the new ruling coalition of her Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party formed the same month.

Takaichi's decision has been criticized for leaving voters little time to assess competing policy proposals and wasting taxpayers' money against the backdrop of the continuously rising prices and the mounting pressure on people's livelihood.

"The parliamentary session will start from tomorrow (Friday), but Takaichi had planned to dissolve the House of Representatives directly. Isn't it strange to do that without an opening ceremony, without a policy address, without convening the budget committee, or even without conducting any review at all? What else did she do besides her remarks that trampled on the constitution and the laws on the so-called 'survival-threatening situation'? If she gains a majority, she will say 'reappointment completed' and then push for amending Constitution's Article 9. It might even be pushed all the way to the use of force under the so-called 'survival-threatening situation'," said Fukushima Mizuho, leader of Japan's Social Democratic Party.

"In a situation where prices are soaring and everyone is having such a hard time, economy is deteriorating due to Takaichi' erroneous remarks on Taiwan. We must seriously consider whether it is really necessary for Takaichi to use a huge amount of tax revenue to hold an election during such an extremely bad period," said an organizer of the rally.

Opposition parties have also slammed Takaichi's plan, saying she is putting political considerations ahead of parliament's enactment of an initial budget for fiscal 2026 starting in April, despite her pledge to prioritize policy implementation.

At present, issues such as the continuous soaring of Japan's defense budget and the increasing pressure on people's livelihood have led to a rise in dissatisfaction in Japanese society. Many protesters expressed their strong dissatisfaction with and concern over the Takaichi administration.

"Recently, it's become quite obvious to see Takaichi administration's political stance and its danger. She keeps talking about implementing an 'active fiscal policy', but in reality, she keeps issuing national debt and doesn't spend the money on people's livelihood. Instead, she invests it in defense spending. Instead of doing something to improve people's livelihood, she has kept increasing defense spending, pushing the country into war. The same is true on diplomatic issues. Relations with China has deteriorated due to her erroneous remarks on Taiwan, and up to now, she didn't even withdraw her remarks," said Kira Yoshiko, a member of the House of Councilors.

"I really can't understand why she made such remarks. Was it made by accident or on purpose? Judging from the outcomes, this is inciting the public sense of crisis and encouraging them to support Japan's continuous military expansion necessary for war. I can't help but suspect that this is her real purpose, which I think is an extremely despicable practice. In this sense, such politics is extremely dangerous to Japan's democratic system and to peace in East Asia," said a participant of the rally.

This will be the first general election for Takaichi as prime minister. Her ruling coalition currently holds only a slim majority in the powerful House of Representatives and remains a minority in the House of Councillors.

Meanwhile, the Centrist Reform Alliance, formally launched on Thursday, has become Japan's main opposition party with 165 lower house lawmakers. The new alliance between the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Komeito party aims to defeat the conservative ruling bloc in the upcoming contest.

Japanese people rally to protest against PM's decision to dissolve lower house

A23a, once the world's largest iceberg, has entered the final stage of its life, having shrunk to less than one-eighth of its original size, according to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).

The latest true-color imagery from the Fengyun-3D (FY-3D) satellite reveals that the main body of A23a now covers an area of only 503 square kilometers. This is a dramatic reduction from just a few weeks ago when it measured 948 square kilometers. Since breaking off from the Antarctic ice shelf in 1986 with an area of 4,170 square kilometers, A23a has spent nearly four decades journeying from its birth to its impending demise.

In the cold waters approximately 250 kilometers west of South Georgia Island, at 52.75 degrees south latitude and 41.34 degrees west longitude, the nearly 40-year evolution of the iceberg is drawing to a close. Experts from the National Satellite Meteorological Center (NSMC) of the CMA have been continuously tracking the drift path of A23a since 2023 and its disintegration process since the beginning of 2025, utilizing the Medium Resolution Spectral Imager aboard China's FY-3 series satellites.

The latest monitoring indicates a significant split that occurred at the start of 2026. On Jan. 8, the main body of the iceberg was still largely intact, with only minor surface cracks. By Jan. 9, it had clearly fractured into four main parts. Debris and ice that toppled into the ocean quickly filled the gaps, pushing the main body and its fragments further apart. The separation accelerated in the following days. By Jan. 14, clear channels of water had formed between the main body and the three largest sub-icebergs, signaling their complete separation.

Experts pointed to a process known as hydrofracturing as the primary cause of the iceberg's rapid structural failure.

"Meltwater continuously accumulates, creating immense pressure at the edges and forcing new cracks onto the ice body. The meltwater then seeps down along the cracks, scouring them, and even cascades down the ice walls. This continuous scouring widens the cracks, acting like a wedge that constantly splits the ice body. This is the key factor leading to the rapid disintegration of the iceberg's structure. At the same time, the water temperature of 3-4 degrees Celsius, carried by ocean currents, scours the bottom of the iceberg, thinning it and accelerating its instability," said Zheng Zhaojun, chief expert of the NSMC's International User Service Center.

The A23a iceberg will likely disintegrate completely within the next few weeks. The remaining iceberg fragments and floating ice, currently scattered over an area of approximately 1,439 square kilometers, now pose a significant navigational hazard in the coming months.

Currently, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The relatively clear weather and rising air and water temperatures in the iceberg's vicinity are further accelerating its breakup.

World's formerly largest iceberg enters final stage of disintegration