Sanae Takaichi, a staunch conservative who admires Margaret Thatcher, is expected to become Japan’s first woman prime minister Tuesday, but analysts say her rise does not necessarily signal a feminist victory.
Instead, the 64-year-old, who won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership this month, has positioned herself as a hardliner focused on defence and economic security.
After forging a last-minute coalition deal, Takaichi is highly likely to be confirmed by parliament on Tuesday as the country’s first woman head of government and Japan’s fifth leader in as many years.
Voters have been deserting the long-dominant LDP in droves because of inflation and a recent slush fund scandal, while the anti-immigration Sanseito party has been gaining ground.
In an effort to claw them back, Takaichi has taken a tough stance on immigration and foreign tourists — both of which emerged as key issues in the LDP leadership race.
A former economic security minister, she has previously been a vocal critic of China and its military build-up in the Asia-Pacific.
She has also been a regular visitor to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honours convicted war criminals along with 2.5 million war dead, and is seen by Asian nations as a symbol of Japan’s militarist past.
However, she has toned down her rhetoric on China and last week stayed away from a festival at the shrine.
Once a drummer in a college heavy metal band, Takaichi looks to the late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher as her political idol.
Although her election “would be a step forward for women’s participation in politics”, she has shown little inclination to fight patriarchal norms, according to Sadafumi Kawato, professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo.
Takaichi’s views on gender place her on the right of an already conservative LDP and she opposes revising a 19th-century law requiring married couples to share the same surname, a rule that overwhelmingly results in women taking their husband’s name.
Takaichi has been married twice to the same man — a former member of parliament — and during her first marriage she took his name, and in the second he took hers.
The issue “probably won’t be resolved during her term”, Kawato told AFP.
However, in her campaign speech she vowed to improve the gender balance in her cabinet to “Nordic” levels.
Japan ranked 118 out of 148 in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Gender Gap Report chiefly because of the underrepresentation of women in government, while Iceland, Finland and Norway occupied the top three places.
Takaichi enjoys passionate support in the conservative wing of the LDP and among fellow followers of assassinated ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe.
She supports aggressive monetary easing and big fiscal spending, echoing her political mentor’s “Abenomics” policies, which, if implemented again, could rattle markets.
She has also voiced her strong concerns about crime and the economic influence of foreigners in Japan, calling for stricter rules — a move analysts say is an attempt to regain voters who fled the LDP to a new nationalist party with anti-immigration messages.
On tariffs, she said this month that she will not shy away from pushing for renegotiations with the United States if the deal is implemented in a way deemed harmful or unfair to Japan.
AFP
AFP
AFP
