Tokyo (AFP) – Japan got its first woman prime minister on Tuesday after Sanae Takaichi, a China hawk and social conservative, forged an 11th-hour coalition deal. Japan’s fifth premier in as many years will lead a minority government and has a bulging in-tray, not least a scheduled visit by US President Donald Trump next week. The lower house of parliament appointed Takaichi, an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, as prime minister on Tuesday, after she unexpectedly won a slim majority in a first round of voting. Looking serious, the 64-year-old stood and bowed several times to lawmakers. The upper house then voted in her favour, although in a runoff after Takaichi fell short of a majority. Takaichi will formally take office after meeting the emperor later.
The former heavy metal drummer became on October 4 head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed almost non-stop for decades but is losing support. Six days later, the Komeito party, uncomfortable about Takaichi’s conservative views and an LDP slush fund scandal, quit their coalition. This forced Takaichi to form an alliance with the reformist, right-leaning Japan Innovation Party (JIP), which was signed on Monday evening. JIP wants to lower the consumption tax rate on food to zero, abolish corporate and organisational donations, and reduce the number of MPs. Takaichi pledged Monday to “make Japan’s economy stronger and reshape Japan as a country that can be responsible for future generations.”
“She’s a strong-minded person, regardless of being a woman,” pensioner Toru Takahashi, 76, told AFP in Takaichi’s hometown of Nara. “She’s not like Trump. But she’s clear about what’s right and wrong,” he said.
Takaichi has promised a cabinet with “Nordic” levels of women, up from two under outgoing premier Shigeru Ishiba. These could include the right-wing Satsuki Katayama in charge of finances and the half-American Kimi Onoda as economic security minister, local media said. Japan ranked 118 out of 148 in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report. Around 15 percent of lower house MPs are women, and corporate boardrooms are overwhelmingly male. Takaichi has said she hopes to raise awareness about women’s health struggles and has spoken candidly about her own experience with menopause. But she opposes revising a 19th-century law requiring married couples to share the same surname and wants the imperial family to stick to male-only succession.
In Nara, company worker Keiko Yoshida, 39, told AFP she hopes Takaichi will “make Japan a more livable place for women.” “I’d be happy if we saw more policies from a woman’s perspective: support for childcare, and help for women returning to work after having children,” agreed student Nina Terao, 18.
Details of Japan’s mooted $500 billion in investments as part of its trade deal with Washington are unclear. Trump also wants Tokyo to stop Russian energy imports and boost defence spending. “I’d like her to be a prime minister who can clearly say ‘No’ when needed,” Satoshi Sakamoto, 73, another Nara pensioner, told AFP. Takaichi’s other many challenges include reversing the decline of Japan’s population and injecting some vim into the flatlining economy. Being in a minority in both houses of parliament, the new coalition will need support from other parties to push through legislation.
Takaichi has in the past backed aggressive monetary easing and expanded government spending, echoing her mentor, former premier Shinzo Abe. She previously said that “Japan is completely looked down on by China,” and that Tokyo must “address the security threat” posed by Beijing, while calling for more security cooperation with Taiwan. But she has since toned down her rhetoric, and last week stayed away from the Yasukuni shrine — she has been a regular visitor before — honouring Japan’s war dead.
Takaichi will also be under pressure to restore the fortunes of the LDP after a string of poor election results that cost Ishiba his job. Smaller parties gaining support include the populist Sanseito, which calls immigration a “silent invasion.” “Prices have gone up, and it’s tough,” Nara pensioner Satoe Tominaga, 77, told AFP, saying she was “50-50” about Takaichi. “Honestly, I mostly shop at 100-yen ($0.66) stores now.”
© 2024 AFP
