Tokyo, Japan — Tomoko Tamura of the JCP addresses supporters near Shibuya Station in central Tokyo during a weekend campaign appearance, Saturday, January 31, 2026. Photo: RAmiro Vargas / chilanga.com The morning Japan’s February 8, 2026 election campaign officially began did not announce itself with urgency. Trains ran on schedule, coffee steamed behind convenience-store counters, and Tokyo moved with its usual precision. Yet politics, as ever in Japan, unfolded quietly—almo
