Tokyo
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For most of her life, Sanae Takaichi has liked heavy metal.
Since drumming in a university band, the 64-year-old politician has remained a fan of teams like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. She used to play so laborious that she carried 4 pairs of sticks as back-up in case they snapped, Japanese media has reported.
But in contrast to most metalheads who mellow with age, the lady doubtless to be Japan’s subsequent prime minister continues to be an fanatic. She has an electrical drum set at residence and bangs out songs every time she’s stressed, often about her husband.
“I play after he goes to sleep,” she joked throughout a current interview with a Japanese YouTuber.
That identical headbanging power has outlined her regular, albeit unconventional, political rise.
The staunch conservative and longtime lawmaker received Japan’s ruling get together’s presidency on October 4, changing into the first lady ever to safe the submit, after her third try. But together with her coalition prospects doubtful, and the get together weakened by scandal and voter frustration, her route to Japan’s prime job is way from assured.
Days after successful the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) management, a victory that may usually all however assure the premiership, Takaichi was dealt an sudden setback. The LDP’s longtime coalition associate, Komeito, introduced it will not be part of a authorities below her, citing lingering distrust over an LDP political slush fund scandal. The break up leaves Takaichi scrambling to safe sufficient parliamentary assist to kind a steady administration.
And even when she does develop into Japan’s first lady prime minister, she is going to inherit a frightening listing of challenges.
Takaichi has lengthy championed conservative insurance policies, rooted in nationalist and traditionalist beliefs. Her win, a shocking triumph in Japan’s deeply patriarchal political system, alerts to disillusioned LDP voters that conventional conservatism is alive and nicely.
A distinguished member of the ultranationalist foyer group Nippon Kaigi, she promotes a patriotic schooling. She’s additionally supported revising Japan’s pacifist structure, significantly Article 9, which renounces battle and bans army forces.
Unlike many of her male friends, Takaichi doesn’t come from a political dynasty. She was born in Nara prefecture to a father who labored for a automobile firm and a mom who was a police officer.
Before coming into politics, she interned for a US Democratic congresswoman and labored as a TV commentator, “wearing miniskirts, riding motorcycles and presenting herself in a lively, unconventional way that sharply contrasted with the typical older male commentators,” Hajime Kidera, a professor at Meiji University’s School of Political Science and Economics, informed NCS.
But Takaichi gave up her beloved Kawasaki Z400GP motorbike after changing into a lawmaker in 1993 at age 32, reportedly to keep away from accidents that would hinder her work.
Her first stint in politics was as an impartial lawmaker in Japan’s parliament. Around that point, she met the hairdresser who’d fashion her hair for the following three many years. From the beginning, Yukitoshi Arai informed NCS, Takaichi aspired to be like Margaret Thatcher.
When Arai discovered Takaichi had received the LDP management, he stated, “I was so happy it gave me goosebumps.”
He fondly recalled how, after early political struggles, Takaichi joined the LDP in 1996. “We decided to express her renewed determination with her hair and cut it short,” he stated. Thus was born the enduring “Sanae cut” – smooth, sharp and sensible for a busy politician.
Since becoming a member of the LDP, Takaichi has been re-elected 9 occasions. She’s held a number of cupboard posts, together with on gender equality and demographic points, and chaired the get together’s Policy Research Council. Most lately, she served as minister of financial safety below the administration of Fumio Kishida.
Takaichi married in 2004. In a current interview, she stated she agreed to marry her husband, a fellow LDP lawmaker, with out ever occurring a date.
He proposed over the cellphone, saying he’d had his eyes on her “for some time.” His audacity and her rashness would possibly shock some. But her husband was a catch, she stated – he’s a skilled chef.
“He told me, ‘You’ll never go a day without eating good food.’ So, I just took the plunge,” she laughed, admitting she’s not a lot of a prepare dinner herself.
Japan’s financial and demographic woes pose instant challenges for Takaichi, ought to she develop into Japan’s subsequent prime minister.
The nation’s declining birthrate means a shrinking workforce saddled with supporting a swelling aged inhabitants. Record excessive inflation and a weak yen are additionally squeezing households and driving up dwelling prices.
Soon after her election, the yen hit a brand new low amid expectations of main fiscal stimulus. Takaichi has floated large-scale spending and low inflation below her personal banner, “Sanaenomics,” echoing her mentor Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics.”
“That kind of talk can weaken the yen further and raise concerns about Japan’s debt levels. For ordinary people already struggling with rising prices, it’s also a serious worry,” Kidera, the politics professor from Meiji University, stated.
Trade relations with Washington might show difficult, significantly over a $550 billion Japan-to-US investment deal introduced in September, which Takaichi has beforehand stated she might revisit.
As it stands, Japan’s funding within the US targets sectors like semiconductors, power, prescribed drugs and shipbuilding, whereas additionally buying $8 billion yearly in US agricultural merchandise. In return, the US has lowered tariffs on Japanese items, together with vehicles, to a baseline of 15%.
With few particulars in regards to the $550 billion funding deal obtainable, and given President Donald Trump’s mercurial nature, Takaichi seems to be ready to see the way it unfolds, stated Rintaro Nishimura, a Tokyo-based senior affiliate at The Asia Group, a consulting agency.
Her first take a look at with Washington might come rapidly. If Takaichi can kind a coalition and Trump’s schedule permits time across the ASEAN summit, they might meet on the finish of October – doubtlessly simply days into her premiership.
But regardless of her quick runway, comparisons between the 2 conservative leaders are already being drawn. As a protégé of Abe, who loved an in depth rapport with Trump, Takaichi is anticipated to observe her mentor’s diplomatic playbook. Like Abe, Takaichi has referred to as for sharp will increase in Japan’s protection funds, a transfer doubtless to be welcomed by the Trump administration, which has urged Tokyo to strategy NATO’s 5% benchmark.
Geopolitics will additional take a look at her management. Known as a China hawk, Takaichi has beforehand urged that Chinese residents in Japan have a “duty to aid Chinese espionage.” She’s additionally argued that Japanese battle crimes have been exaggerated, and makes common visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, the place Japan’s battle useless, together with convicted battle criminals, are enshrined. Several of her cupboard picks have shut ties to Taiwan, risking friction with Beijing, Japan’s prime buying and selling associate.
Yet analysts count on her stance on visits to the Yasukuni shrine will soften in workplace. “In reality, Takaichi will likely follow a logic of practical diplomacy. She’ll have to tone down the anti-China rhetoric she’s shown in the past,” political analyst Nishimura informed NCS.
Signs of moderation have already appeared. Takaichi stated she received’t go to Yasukuni throughout its autumn competition, doubtless to reassure uneasy coalition companions.
Her election might also blunt the rise of Sanseito, a right-wing populist party that surged in July on an anti-immigration platform. During the LDP management race, all 5 candidates promised more durable measures on foreigners. But Takaichi stood out for her rhetoric, vowing to crack down on rule-breaking guests and immigrants.
She additionally cited unconfirmed anecdotes about vacationers allegedly kicking sacred deer in her hometown of Nara, remarks that drew criticism. She later clarified she aimed to spotlight the rising nervousness and anger amongst many Japanese about “outrageous” foreigners.
At residence, Takaichi should rebuild public belief after years of scandal inside her get together. In 2022, revelations of some LDP lawmakers’ ties to the previous Unification Church harm the get together’s status. The following 12 months, a number of lawmakers had been accused of failing to report revenue or disclose kickbacks, deepening public frustration.
Critics say Takaichi’s file on girls’s rights is combined and can be one other take a look at of her public attraction. She opposes permitting married girls to maintain separate surnames, and resists female succession in the imperial family. Still, throughout her 2025 marketing campaign, she proposed tax breaks for babysitting and company incentives for in-house childcare, maybe indicators of a cautious shift towards extra women-friendly insurance policies.
Takaichi’s rise delivers a jolt to Japan’s political panorama. Poised, however removed from assured, to develop into the nation’s first lady prime minister, she’s additionally steering the LDP again towards its conservative roots after years of centrist management.
The query now could be whether or not Takaichi’s election, and the LDP’s gamble on her, will revive the get together’s fortunes or hasten its decline.