Sanae Takaichi named Japan’s first female prime minister | DW News
The upper and lower houses of parliament have elected the ultraconservative lawmaker. Final approval by the emperor is expected later in the day. Sanae Takaichi, 64, will officially become Japan’s first female prime minister after meeting with Emperor Naruhito later on Tuesday. The upper and lower houses of parliament appointed the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader after she unexpectedly won a majority in a first round of voting in the latter earlier this month. She is expected to welcome US President Donald Trump from October 27, in her first major challenge.
Takaichi is Japan’s fifth leader in as many years, as the ruling LDP — which has governed almost non-stop for decades — continues to bleed support. After taking the reins of LDP on October 6, she faced her first challenge as the Komeito party quit their coalition, citing discomfort over Takaichi’s conservative views and the LDP slush fund scandal. It pushed Takaichi into forming an alliance with the right-leaning Japan Innovation Party (JIP), in a deal that was signed on Monday. Key to JIP policies are to lower the consumption tax rate on food to zero, abolish corporate and organizational donations to political parties and to reduce the overall number of MPs.
Promising to form a government with “Nordic” numbers of women, Takaichi had pledged on Monday that she would “make Japan’s economy stronger, and reshape Japan as a country that can be responsible for future generations.”
Having spoken openly about her own struggles with menopause, the former heavy metal drummer has vowed to raise awareness about women’s health struggles. The east Asain country has a heavily patriarchal society and was ranked 118 out of 148 in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, with around only 15% of lower house MPs women. Despite the historic appointment of Takaichi, and a promise to appoint more female ministers, her political beliefs are of concern to some women within Japan. Her opposition to revising a 19th-century law requiring married couples to share the same surname is in contrast to the broad support it holds in Japan — aside from with conservatives. Her wishes for the imperial family to stick to male-only succession and an opposition to same-sex marriage is also of concern to many voters, who were boxed out of having their own say on who would appointed as leader. Takaichi has repeatedly referred to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a source of inspiration although she is an advocate of fiscal largesse and easy monetary policies, in direct contrast to the ‘Iron Lady’s’ policies. As the LDP remain in a minority in both houses of parliament, the new coalition will need support from other parties to push through legislation.
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26 Comments
Love it!!
Right….another GLASS CLIFF situation.
Liberal media like DW and similar obviously don't like the conservative leadership, who do not promote their ideas…
However, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and other Western nations should envy Japan's politics.
We now have a strong leader who prioritises the people's interests and tackles important issues like the economy, national security, and immigration.
As a Japanese living in Europe, I am pleased to see her rise to power.
By the way, the Nikkei 225 rose nearly 10% in October. The number doesn't lie, which the media usually ignore…
BANZAI !!!
Reddit: confused rage
Fascism on the Rise again. 😅
Japan's post WWII leaders have always been on the right spectrum of politics. Japanese people has always been the same, too. They denied their atrocities during WWII in China, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, etc.
Enjoy your digital id
German needs a trans leader to cope with this 😂😂😂
Beta nations SHOULD have Beta leaders.
MAGA
Her economic views do not seem to follow Thatcher‘s very closely.
🎉🎉❤❤ save japan 🙏🙏😇😇
Welcome to the fascist leader club Japan
I’m Japanese. Japan, too, is seeing a rising wave of globalism, with more people advocating for the rights and dignity of immigrants. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. However, as visa policies have been relaxed, public safety has deteriorated due to immigrants who lack manners and moral awareness. Now, Japan’s land is on the verge of being bought up by Chinese investors.
While international consideration toward immigrants is certainly important, we must not lose sight of the essence of our nation. We should never sacrifice the soul of our country merely to please others.
Liberalists always advocate freedom while forgetting the aspect of cultural friction. The previous administration was far too generous toward foreigners. I hope that with Ms. Takaichi as Prime Minister, Japan can regain its national spirit.
Sanae is the name of Shinchan mom.
過去にメタルバンドでドラマーをやっていて、極右で、靖国神社に参拝して、過去の戦争を正当化、経済ではAIなど最新技術を奨励
だいたい間違っていない。😅 メタルバンドのドラマーはさすがに恥ずかしいな。。。
Liberals will writhe all over the floor shrieking and foaming at the mouth because a nonwhite or female has held every major government position and a woman has had 3 come close to being elected president but not yet elected
"sorry not sorry" for war crimes, sure.
Find a reliable and not biased journalist next time. Goodness
एक आम भारतीय नागरिक के तौर पर, मैं प्रधानमंत्री ताकाइची जी को बधाई देना चाहता हूँ। भारत की ओर से, जापान की मैत्रीपूर्ण जनता को शुभकामनाएँ।
インド国民の一人として、高市首相に祝意を表します。インドを代表し、友好的な日本の皆さんに心からお祝い申し上げます。
She is not left-wing, but 'ultraconservative' is an inaccurate description of her given that she is supported by the majority of the LDP.
simply and shortly, JAPAN wanna keep being JAPAN
I am happy to have Takaichi as our PM.
Takaichi in not going against Democracy. She is going against illegal immigrants, foreigners who committed crimes in Japan.
Immigrants who are abusing welfare systems without paying tax.
Currently we don’t have law for foreigners committed crimes in Japan. She is trying to create laws for these criminals to be prosecuted as well as Japanese criminals.
Former presidents brought over 300,000 immigrants from African countries, East Asian countries, China in last 3years and many of them don’t speak Japanese, creating tensions in Japan. Because of this, lots of these immigrants are relying on Japanese welfare systems in Japan.
We want our government to stop mass immigration policy for now, organize systems and fix law.
She is not extreme right.
She just stands up for Japan and people in Japan to keep Japan peaceful.
She likes hard rock.
Shes a fan of Michael Schenker.
Congratulations to Japan. From the free country of Taiwan.
Let's be clear here, she admitted her that she wants to "follow in the footsteps of her role model Margaret Thatcher." UHM, The phrase "Ding, Dong, The witch is dead" was what people were saying and singing when Margaret Thatcher died. No leader should actually WANT this kind of goodbye….