Japan's incoming Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who will formally take office on Monday, is set to dissolve Parliament next week and call an election for Oct 31, public broadcaster NHK said.

The surprise move, amid widespread expectations for a poll in November, appears to be aimed at exploiting a traditional honeymoon period accorded to new governments and a sharp drop in the number of coronavirus infections.

Outgoing prime minister Yoshihide Suga enjoyed support ratings of about 70 percent soon after taking office about a year ago, but was pummelled by criticism of his handling of the pandemic, leading him to make way for a new face...