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Sanae Takaichi often wears blue suits in tribute to Margaret Thatcher (Picture: Yuichi Yamakazi//AFP) Japan has followed more than a third of the world’s countries in gaining its first female leader, after members of the Diet voted Sanae Takaichi to take over as Prime Minister. Takaichi counts among her political idols another woman who took on the mantle of first female head of government for her country: Margaret Thatcher. During her recent campaign to become leader of the ruling party – her third attempt to win the role – she told a group of schoolchildren: ‘My goal is to become the Iron Lady.’ But despite very openly taking inspiration from the former British PM, Takaichi’s background isn’t exactly reminiscent of Thatcher, and several of her policies have attracted controversy. Here’s all you need to know about the hardline conservative now leading one of the world’s most populous countries. Who is Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi? Takaichi is a keen drummer with a passion for heavy metal and fast cars, and before going into politics she briefly worked as a TV presenter. The 64-year-old’s interest in politics, however, goes back decades – in 1987, she spent a year working for Democrat congresswoman Pat Schroeder in the US. She started her parliamentary career in 1993 after being elected as an independent, then joined the Liberal Democratic Party – which bears very little political resemblance to the UK party with a similar name – in 1996. Takaichi is considered a protege of assassinated leader Shinzo Abe (Picture: AP) Over the following years, she worked closely with Shinzo Abe, who ended up becoming the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japanese history. He was assassinated in 2022. Takaichi previously tried to become leader of the LDP in 2021 and 2024 but lost out both times. But her eventual victory earlier this month set her up to take over power following confirmation by parliament. What are her policies? Over her 32 years as a member of Japan’s Diet – the name of the national parliament – Takaichi has gained a reputation as a firm conservative. Like ex-PM Abe, she takes a traditionalist approach to matters like family and culture. She is opposed to same-sex marriage and allowing both members of a married couple to keep their own surname – despite retaining her maiden name after her two marriages to the same man. The Japanese public reading about their new PM in the newspaper (Picture: Reuters) Takaichi is more right-wing on most issues than her predecessors as LDP leader, which might be an effort to appeal to a drift to the right among the Japanese public. Her repeated visits to the Yasakuni Shrine have garnered controversy – it honours Japan’s war dead, including a number of convicted war criminals, and no PM has visited it since 2013. Did she really used to be a drummer? Yes – as mentioned above, Takaichi is very keen on heavy metal music and that extends to playing the drums. According to BBC News, she is known for carrying a large number of sticks because she hits the drums so furiously they often break. Her favourite bands include London’s very own Deep Purple and Iron Maiden. What does this mean for Japan’s politics? The country might be hoping for a bit of stability – Takaichi is the fourth Japanese PM since Abe stepped down in September 2020. Her government is likely to push hard on Abe’s signature approach to the economy, dubbed Abenomics, which includes higher spending and tax cuts. She may also try to bring Japan closer politically to the US, which should be helped by a visit from Donald Trump scheduled for next week. Time will tell if her elevation to PM will have an impact on female political representation in Japan – where women make up just 15% of the Diet – though she has pledged to increase the number of women in the Cabinet. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.
