On February 8, the Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide in the House of Representatives election. A journalist who covers foreign-resident issues noted that in the government’s January 23 Basic Policy on Foreigners, a cap on the total number of foreign residents was not adopted; during the campaign, while leaders from other parties spoke on the issue, Prime Minister Takai offered no explanation. In last autumn's leadership race, Takai had said that admitting people from different cultures should be reviewed from scratch, emphasizing a fresh look at foreigner intake, and her high approval rating suggested a shift away from previous liberal immigration. However, the policy compiled on January 23 did not pursue an overarching reduction in inflows. With Takai now holding a two-thirds majority on her own, there is little incentive to honor the Ishin coalition agreement. Looking at past policy, the tightening of entry and stay controls has occurred, but the expansion of intake continues. For example, a newly set upper limit of 1.23 million foreign workers through fiscal 2026 exceeds recent growth in the Specified Skilled Worker and technical internship programs; from fiscal 2029 onward, targets are to be set by sector roughly every five years. Additionally, at a cabinet meeting just before dissolution on January 23, the scope of sectors covered by the Specified Skilled Worker program was expanded to three areas: linen supply, logistics warehouses, and resource recycling. While the policy touts the spillover effects of inbound measures, questions remain about whether workers in these sectors can be attracted with higher wages, and in November of the previous year Japan signed a new bilateral agreement on technical internships with Fiji. In short, most foreigners reside lawfully, and there has been little effort to curb inflows; instead, Takai’s administration appears focused on mitigating problems associated with foreigners rather than sharply reducing their numbers.