The conservative Takaichi, Japan's first female leader who says she is inspired by Britain's "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher, was projected to deliver as many as 328 of the 465 seats in parliament's lower house for her Liberal Democratic Party.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was projected Sunday to have won a thumping victory in snap elections, in a result that could however rile China and worry financial markets.

With a straight-talking style and an image as a hard worker that have won her support, especially with younger voters, Takaichi has accelerated military spending to counter China,

A coalition led by current Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to clinch a decisive win, according to media projections after polls closed.

Japanese people are braving the snow to vote in a snap election called by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, whose coalition is predicted to clinch a decisive win. Takaichi called the country's first mid-winter poll in 36 years to seek a public mandate soon after winning her party's leadership race last October.