5 Things To Know About Sanae Takaichi, Japan's First Female Prime Minister - Beritaja

Japan's caller premier minister, Sanae Takaichi has worked successful authorities since 1993 and spent galore years successful the precocious Shinzo Abe's administration. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool/Getty Images

Japan's first-ever female premier minister, Sanae Takaichi, is an ultraconservative pinch a accepted position of gender roles and a penchant for dense metallic music.

Japan's parliament elected Takaichi connected Tuesday, respective weeks aft she was chosen to lead the blimpish Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has spent overmuch of the past 7 decades successful power. The LDP is seen arsenic shifting further to the right: It was only capable to elite Takaichi by forming an confederation pinch a right-wing populist party, aft losing its longtime conjugation partner earlier this month.

Takaichi, 64, is "one of the about blimpish group successful Japan's blimpish LDP," explains Jeffrey Hall, a teacher astatine Kanda University of International Studies successful Japan.

She has advocated for tougher migration restrictions and embraced hawkish policies connected China. She has drawn comparisons to the precocious British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, for whom she has often expressed her admiration and often wears bluish suits successful tribute.

But she besides played drums successful a set successful college, cites Deep Purple and Iron Maiden arsenic immoderate of her favourite bands, erstwhile belted a stone anthem connected nationalist TV and appears to support a beardown affinity for motorcycles and cars.

"Those are portion of the characteristic that is promoted by her, that [she is] much than conscionable the beardown Iron Lady, but besides personification who could person immoderate fun," Hall says.

Here's what other to cognize about Japan's caller leader.

Sanae Takaichi bows arsenic she was elected Japan's caller premier curate during a parliament convention successful Tokyo connected Tuesday. Eugene Hoshiko/AP

1. She isn't from a governmental family

Takaichi was calved and raised successful the cardinal Japanese prefecture of Nara. Her dada worked for an automotive firm, while her mom worked for the section constabulary department.

"Unlike about aliases galore of the politicians successful her statement who became premier ministers, she came from alternatively humble means," Hall says. "But she did study very difficult erstwhile she was young, and she passed the entranceway exams for immoderate very elite backstage universities successful Japan."

But he said Takaichi's parents refused to salary for her tuition to an elite university, preferring that she be a two-year assemblage to prevention money and unrecorded person to home. She ended up attending Kobe University, a prestigious nationalist university, paying her ain measurement done part-time jobs and making the six-hour round-trip commute from her parents' house.

In 1987, Takaichi moved to the U.S. to activity arsenic a legislature chap successful the agency of Rep. Pat Schroeder, a Democrat from Colorado — contempt her ain blimpish leanings, Hall notes. After returning to Japan, she was capable to marketplace herself arsenic an master successful world authorities and unafraid a occupation arsenic a tv presenter.

"And from there, she segued distant from being a TV characteristic into a politician, which is simply a communal way successful Japan," Hall says. "If you're celebrated connected TV, you person a beautiful bully chance of winning elections."

2. She's spent decades successful politics 

Takaichi was first elected to parliament successful 1993, representing her hometown of Nara arsenic an independent.

She joined the LDP 3 years later and went connected to service successful a number of cardinal authorities positions, including curate of economical security.

Notably, she served arsenic the curate of world communications — which is responsible for telecommunications argumentation and broadcast media regulations — nether the precocious Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, from 2014 to 2017 and again from 2019 to 2020.

"She served successful that, I think, longer than immoderate different leader has ever served, because the Abe management was a very agelong management and he weighted her competency," Hall says.

Abe was Japan's longest-serving premier minister, holding agency from 2006 to 2007 and 2012 to 2020, earlier his assassination successful 2022. He was known for his efforts to revitalize Japan's system — nicknamed "Abenomics" — and rebuild its domiciled connected the world stage.

Takaichi "definitely depicts herself arsenic the successor to Abe's blimpish legacy," Hall says, noting that she did get his endorsement successful the party's 2021 activity election.

"I'm not judge really adjacent friends they were, but they decidedly were connected the aforesaid page ideologically erstwhile it came to issues for illustration China and the revisionist position of World War II that galore of the ultra-conservatives successful Japan have," he said.

Takaichi looks connected arsenic incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to the media successful Tokyo successful 2012. Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP via Getty Images

3. Her views person caused controversy

Takaichi subscribes to modern monetary theory, "which says that you could prosecute successful shortage spending connected important things for illustration defense and different parts of the budget," Hall says.

While she is not arsenic traditionally fiscally blimpish arsenic others successful her party, he says, she is highly blimpish connected societal issues. For instance, she wants to create programs to beforehand having children and doesn't deliberation women should beryllium allowed to support their maiden names aft matrimony (even though she has utilized hers successful master and nationalist life).

She besides has what Hall describes arsenic hardline views connected Japan's WWII history. In remarks complete the years, she has downplayed Japan's aggression during the warfare and criticized the warfare crimes trials that the Allies held afterward to convict Japan's wartime leaders.

Takaichi is besides known to regularly sojourn the arguable Yasukuni Shrine, wherever the convicted warfare criminals are buried and glorified. But she noticeably abstained from visiting during past week's autumn festival, sending a ritual offering instead.

Takaichi has besides courted contention pinch her disdain for immigrants and moreover tourists, a rapidly increasing industry successful Japan. While campaigning, she cited unconfirmed reports of visitors kicking ineffable cervid successful Nara Park, portion of a larger disapproval of tourism that galore saw arsenic xenophobic.

"It besides ties into a wide dislike of overseas group and besides immigrants who unrecorded successful the country," Hall says.

She has advocated for an anti-espionage law, suggesting that Chinese residents of Japan could beryllium imaginable spies for China's government. During her campaign, she called for restrictions connected non-Japanese group buying spot successful Japan and a crackdown connected forbidden immigration.

"People who are very anti-immigration are benignant of smiling connected her becoming premier minister, expecting that she will do thing about it," Hall says, adding he thinks that is improbable because of unit from Japanese businesses who trust connected migration successful the look of significant labour shortages.

4. She's not needfully a feminist 

Takaichi holds a notable spot successful the history books arsenic the first female premier curate of a state wherever women only held about 10% of seats successful parliament arsenic of 2024.

Japan, the world's 4th largest economy, classed 118th retired of 148 countries successful position of gender equality — the lowest of immoderate Group of Seven federation — according to the World Economic Forum (WEF)'s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report.

However, Takaichi appears improbable to prioritize issues of gender equality. She has agelong advocated for accepted gender roles, opposes same-sex matrimony and supports male-only succession to the Japanese throne.

"This is not going to beryllium a play erstwhile women's equality aliases different gender issues are aggressively advanced," Hall says. "But location is, I guess, immoderate use to having a female arsenic the leader of your country, to show … young women that successful the early they could go premier minister, too."

Takaichi has spoken about women's rights, specifically advocating for the description of infirmary services for women's wellness and opening up about her ain struggles pinch menopause symptoms.

Takaichi has besides spoken about her struggles to conceive; She has nary biologic children, but is simply a stepmother to 3 kids — and grandma to 4 — from her husband's erstwhile marriage. (She is joined to erstwhile personnel of parliament and chap LDP personnel Taku Yamamoto, who legally took her past name, a comparative rarity successful Japan.)

Takaichi had promised connected the run way to summation the number of women successful her furniture to "Nordic levels," aliases closer to 50%. But successful the hours aft taking office, she appointed only two.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi poses pinch her caller furniture members astatine the premier minister's agency successful Tokyo connected Tuesday. She appointed 2 female furniture members, contempt her run promises to elevate their practice to "Nordic levels." Kiyoshi Ota/Pool Bloomberg

Hall says Takaichi has had to beryllium much blimpish than her antheral colleagues successful bid to return the helm of the party. While she and her domiciled exemplary Margaret Thatcher disagree successful their approaches to fiscal policy, he says some are conservative, hawkish and "do not want to beryllium seen arsenic weak."

"She maybe, successful a way, has modeled her emergence connected Margaret Thatcher by being this very beardown figure, contempt coming [up] successful a statement of very blimpish men who mostly do not beforehand women to the highest positions," he adds.

5. She appears friends toward Trump

Takaichi has indicated a friendliness toward President Trump, who called her "a highly respected personification of awesome contented and strength" successful a social media post earlier this period congratulating her connected her emergence to statement activity and her expected ascension to premier minister.

She responded pinch a station of her own, penning successful some English and Japanese that she is "truly hoping to activity together pinch President Trump to make our confederation moreover stronger & much prosperous, and to beforehand a Free and Open Indo-Pacific."

Hall says Trump apt has a bully first belief of Takaichi already, because of her estimation arsenic an "anti-immigration, hard-line blimpish who is simply a respecter of his precocious friend Shinzo Abe."

Abe was 1 of the first overseas leaders to cultivate a narration pinch Trump during his first term. The two became friends arsenic they bonded complete wagyu beef burgers, sumo wrestling and golf.

Trump is expected to meet Takaichi connected a sojourn to Japan later this month. Hall predicts she will travel the aforesaid playbook arsenic her predecessors:

"You beryllium arsenic bully arsenic imaginable to the president, you show him the maximum respect, you do not person nationalist disagreements pinch him," he says. "And erstwhile you do disagree complete policy, you do it successful a very subtle measurement that doesn't look for illustration you're telling the president he's wrong."