Ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi on Track to Become Japan’s First Female PM

TOKYO: Sanae Takaichi is on track to become Japan’s first female prime minister after the ruling party found a key coalition partner.

Takaichi, 64, will replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tuesday’s parliamentary vote. If successful, it would end a three-month political vacuum in Japan and the strife that has raged since the coalition’s defeat in July parliamentary elections.

The moderate centrist Komeito party left the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after 26 years of coalition. It came just days after Takaichi was elected as LDP leader, forcing him to desperately search for a new coalition partner to secure the votes to become prime minister.

Buddhist-backed Komeito left after voicing concerns about Takaichi’s ultra-conservative politics and the LDP’s lax response to corruption scandals that led to the party’s consecutive election defeats and loss of majorities in both houses.

As leaders of the country’s three largest opposition parties failed to unite in seeking a change of government, Takaichi joined with the most conservative of them, the Osaka-based Ishin no Kai, or Japan Innovation Party, to find a quick solution. The two parties signed a coalition agreement on Monday that includes common policy goals on diplomacy, security and energy.

The fragile new coalition, still in a minority in parliament, will need the cooperation of other opposition groups to pass any legislation.

There are major diplomatic tests awaiting the government in a few days: meetings with US President Donald Trump and regional summits. Takaichi needs to respond quickly to rising prices at home and find economic stimulus measures to appease the frustrated public.

Unpopular among women Takaichi, a fan of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, breaking the glass ceiling is making history in a country where gender equality ranks poorly internationally.

But many women are not celebrating, and some see his impending premiership as a setback.

“The prospect of having the first female prime minister does not make me happy,” sociologist Chizuko Ueno said in X. Ueno said Takaichi’s leadership would improve Japan’s gender equality rankings, but “that doesn’t mean Japanese politics is kinder to women.”

Takaichi, the ultra-conservative star of his male-dominated party, is among those who block measures for the advancement of women. Takaichi supports male-only succession to the imperial family, opposes same-sex marriage and a revision to the civil code allowing separate surnames for married couples so that women are not pressured to give up their own surnames.

“Ms. Takaichi’s policies are extremely hawkish, and I doubt she will consider policies to recognize diversity,” said Chiyako Sato, a political commentator and senior writer for the Mainichi newspaper.

Rising prices and population decline If he is successful in the parliamentary elections, Takaichi will immediately form his Cabinet on Tuesday and give a policy speech later in the week.

Takaichi, a protégé of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is expected to emulate his economic and security policies.

He would have only a few days to prepare for regional summits and diplomatic talks with Trump in between. He is expected to keep ties with China and South Korea stable, despite concerns about his revisionist views on wartime history and past visits to Yasukuni Shrine.

The shrine commemorates Japan’s 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals. Victims of Japanese aggression, particularly China and Korea, view visits to the shrine as a sign of Japan’s lack of remorse for its wartime past.

Takaichi supports a stronger military and is currently undergoing a five-year expansion period, with the annual defense budget set to double to 2% of gross domestic product by 2027. Trump is expected to demand that Japan increase its military spending to NATO targets of 5% of GDP and purchase more US weapons.

Takaichi also needs to fulfill Japan’s promise to invest $550 billion in the United States under the U.S. tariff agreement.

Policy plans focused on short-term measures such as combating rising prices and improving wages and subsidies, as well as restrictions on the growing foreign population as Japan faced growing xenophobia. Takaichi did not address larger issues such as demographic challenges.

Takaichi can push the party further to the right Takaichi’s mission is to regain conservative votes by pushing the party further to the right. The LDP’s coalition with the right-wing JIP could suit Takaichi’s view.

On Friday, Takaichi sent a religious ornament instead of going to Yasukuni Shrine, apparently to avoid a diplomatic dispute with Beijing and Seoul. He has also reached out to smaller opposition groups, including the far-right Sanseito, seemingly moving his coalition closer to securing a majority in parliament.

Ritsumeikan University political science professor Masato Kamikubo said, “There is no room for Takaichi to show his true face. The only thing he can do is cooperate according to policy.” “This is pathetic.”

First signs of political instability Many observers think that Takaichi’s government will not last long and early elections may be called this year.

Experts also expressed concern about how Takaichi, a fiscal expansionist, might coordinate his economic policies with Ishin’s fiscal conservative views.

Sato pointed out a similar trend in Europe and said, “The era of LDP dominance is over and we are entering the era of multi-party politics. The problem is how to form a coalition.” “We need to find the Japanese way of forming a coalition and a stable government.”