Japan prime minister Takaichi calls for Feb 8 snap election on tax cuts, defense and spending

TOKYO - Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she will call a national election for February 8 to seek voter backing for increased spending, tax cuts and a new security strategy expected to accelerate Japan's defence build-up.

"I am staking my own political future as prime minister on this election. I want the public to judge directly whether they will entrust me with the management of the nation," Takaichi said in a press conference.

She promised a two-year halt to an 8% consumption tax on food and said her spending plans would create jobs, boost household spending and increase other tax revenues.

The prospect of consumption tax cut, which would reduce government revenue by 5 trillion yen ($32 billion) a year, according to government estimates, sent the yield on Japan's 10-year government bonds to a 27-year high earlier on Monday.

The snap vote will decide all 465 seats in parliament’s lower house and mark Takaichi's first electoral test since becoming Japan's first female premier in October.

Calling an early election would allow her to capitalise on strong public support to tighten her grip on the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and shore up her coalition’s fragile majority.

The election will test voter appetite for higher spending at a time when the rising cost of living is the public's top concern. A poll released by public broadcaster NHK last week found 45% of respondents cited prices as their main worry, followed by diplomacy and national security at 16%.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly and Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Toby Chopra)