Sanae Takaichi Becomes Japan’s First Female Prime Minister

TOKYO:
Sanae Takaichi was elected as Japan’s next Prime Minister on Tuesday, following a runoff election in the Parliament. She is also the first woman to assume this role.

The Upper House has chosen Takaichi as Japan’s next Prime Minister, affirming her rise to the position. She received 125 votes in the Upper House — just one vote above the simple majority necessary for victory. Previously, she secured 237 votes in the Lower House, exceeding the required majority of 233.

A former television anchor, Takaichi entered Japanese politics in 1993, winning a seat in the Lower House as an independent. The 64-year-old lawmaker currently represents her home prefecture of Nara.

Takaichi joined Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party in 1996 and entered the Cabinet for the first time under former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. She held the position of the Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs. Later, she went on to become the first woman to chair the LDP’s Policy Research Council.

From 2022 to 2024, Takaichi was Japan’s Economic Security Minister. She also holds the record as the longest-serving Minister for Internal Affairs, a post she held in several tenures.

Takaichi, a prominent voice of the LDP’s conservative wing advocating its causes for a long time, was on Saturday elected as the leader of the LDP after receiving 185 votes. She defeated Shinjiro Shinjiro, who garnered 156 votes in a runoff after none of the five candidates in the party leadership race secured a majority in the initial round of voting.

As the Prime Minister, Takaichi will serve the remainder of former PM Shigeru Ishiba’s three-year term, which ends in September 2027.

Following Saturday’s vote, former Justice Minister Midori Matsushima, one of the 20 lawmakers who backed Takaichi’s candidacy, expressed happiness at the prospect of the country getting its first female Prime Minister.

“The first female Prime Minister is here. I’m so happy that I could witness this. I hope this gives courage to many young women, and to the people like her, who were not born into a family of politicians, who were born and raised in a place that had nothing to do with politics,” the Japan Times quoted Matsushima as saying on Saturday.

Years of sluggish growth, rising prices and a sharp depreciation of the yen have weighed heavily on the public, and the LDP’s twin defeats have left its leadership under closer scrutiny.

As the ruling bloc loses its historical dominance, the task ahead is unenviable: holding together a divided party, managing minority rule, and convincing a sceptical electorate that the LDP is still capable of providing stable government.