The Japanese cabinet has decided to dissolve the House of Representatives.

The Sanae Takai government of Japan held a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's residence at 9:15 am local time this morning. Prime Minister Sanae Takai and all the cabinet ministers signed the cabinet document of dissolution, officially deciding to dissolve the House of Representatives. It is expected that at the plenary session of the House of Representatives scheduled for 1 pm local time today, the Speaker of the House will read the "Decree of Dissolution" conveyed by the Chief Cabinet Secretary, and the House of Representatives will be formally dissolved. According to reports in the Japanese media, dissolving the House of Representatives on the same day the regular session of the Diet is convened is the first time in 60 years and also the first time since the implementation of the system of convening the regular Diet session in January each year. The Sanae Takai government plans to hold a special cabinet meeting after the dissolution of the House of Representatives to determine the schedule for the House of Representatives election, which is set to announce the election notice on the following Sunday, hold the voting on February 8, and count the votes. The interval between the formal dissolution and the voting counting is 16 days, setting a new post-war record for the shortest period.