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The air in Nagatacho, Tokyo’s political epicenter, crackles with a history-making energy. For the first time, a woman stands at the helm of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), poised to shatter one of the highest glass ceilings in the developed world.
Her name is Sanae Takaichi, and her ascent to the precipice of power is a story of fierce ambition, uncompromising ideology, and complex contradictions. If confirmed by the Diet, she will become Japan’s first female Prime Minister. This is not just a political shift; it is a seismic cultural event in a nation where politics has long been the exclusive domain of men, and which perennially ranks low in global measures of political gender equality.
But to paint Takaichi’s rise as simply a victory for women’s representation is to miss the core of her political identity. She is no liberal icon. On the contrary, she is an unapologetic and staunch conservative, a political hawk whose views were forged in the crucible of Japan’s right-wing establishment. Often compared to Margaret Thatcher, a figure she openly reveres, Takaichi has cultivated an image as Japan’s own “Iron Lady.”
Her path to the Kantei, the Prime Minister's official residence, was anything but conventional. Hailing from the ancient capital of Nara, Takaichi did not emerge from a political dynasty, a common prerequisite for success in the LDP. Her early life was a striking departure from the traditional path often expected of Japanese women. As a university student, she played drums in a heavy metal band and loved riding motorcycles—activities that defied conventional gender norms.
After graduating, she worked as a legislative aide in the United States for a Democratic congresswoman before returning to Japan as a TV newscaster, building a public profile with her sharp political analysis.
She first entered the political arena in 1993, winning a seat in the Diet as an independent. It was only later that she joined the LDP, where she found an ideological home and a powerful mentor: the late Shinzo Abe.
It was under Abe’s tutelage that Takaichi’s career flourished. He saw in her a loyal protégée who shared his vision of a stronger, more assertive Japan. She became a fervent disciple of "Abenomics," the economic doctrine of aggressive monetary easing and robust government spending designed to jolt the nation out of decades of deflation.
Now, she champions her own version, dubbed “Sanaenomics,” promising bold crisis-management investment in strategic sectors like semiconductors, AI, and defense.
Her foreign policy and security stances are even more aligned with her late mentor. Takaichi is a hardliner on China, a vocal supporter of Taiwan, and a proponent of revising Article 9 of Japan’s pacifist post-war constitution to formalize the role of its Self-Defense Forces.
She is a regular visitor to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including convicted Class-A war criminals, making it a perennial flashpoint with neighbors like China and South Korea. For Takaichi, these visits are a matter of national pride, a duty to honor those who sacrificed for the country. For her critics, they are a symbol of a lack of remorse for Japan’s imperial past.
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-Asia Media Centre
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