Japan Set for First Female Prime Minister

[applegrove]

Japan Set for First Female Prime Minister

Sanae Takaichi, a hard-line conservative, was elected as leader by Japan’s governing party, paving the way for her to become prime minister of the coalition government.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/04/world/asia/japan-female-leader.html?smid=url-share

Sanae Takaichi, a hard-line conservative Japanese lawmaker, won a critical leadership vote on Saturday, putting her on track to become Japan’s first female prime minister, a milestone in a country where women are vastly underrepresented in politics.

Ms. Takaichi, 64, emerged as the winner of an election by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after two rounds of voting by lawmakers and rank-and-file members.

She will succeed Shigeru Ishiba, Japan’s prime minister, who announced last month his intent to resign after less than a year in office, with his party being battered in the past two elections that saw it become a minority in both houses of the parliament, known as the Diet.

Ms. Takaichi beat out four other candidates, including Shinjiro Koizumi, the 44-year-old agricultural minister who was seen as the favorite heading into Saturday’s election. She was an ally of Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister assassinated in 2022.

[Celerity]

1. She is an absolute ultra RW POS. A horrid person with horrid politics.

[synni]

2. I haven't seen RW Japanese nationalism like this since the early 2010's

They were going after Korean entertainers back then, but now it's just anybody who isn't Japanese.

[applegrove]

3. They need immigrants badly. Young ones. Who is going to go there if they get mistreated.

Last edited Sat Oct 4, 2025, 08:01 AM - Edit history (1)

I don't know anything about her. Please tell me she is not MAGA!

[Ping Tung]

4. She says she was inspired by Maggie Thatcher.

[applegrove]

5. Oh no! At least she didn't say MAGA.

[JI7]

6. How is she hardline ?

[dalton99a]

7. Kick

“Trumpism has suddenly arrived in Asia,” said Katsuyuki Yakushiji, a political analyst in Tokyo.

The rise of Ms. Takaichi, an ally of Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister assassinated in 2022, could heighten tensions with neighbors like China and South Korea. Ms. Takaichi’s hawkish, nationalist stance — including her regular visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead including Class A war criminals from the World War II era — has long been a source of diplomatic strain with Beijing and Seoul.

During the campaign, Ms. Takaichi was blunt, blaming foreigners for kicking the cherished deer in Nara, where she is from, and doing pull-ups on gates outside sacred shrines.

While Ms. Takaichi’s victory is a landmark for Japan — she is the first woman to lead the Liberal Democratic Party in its 70-year history — she is not seen as a champion of women’s rights.

Ms. Takaichi has opposed legal changes that would allow women to reign as emperor. And she has previously spoken out against the idea of changing the century-old law requiring married couples to share a surname for legal purposes, saying that revising the law could lead to divorce or extramarital affairs. She has also opposed same-sex marriage.

[applegrove]

8. Damn.