CaliToday (04/10/2025): In a landmark moment for Japanese politics, Sanae Takaichi has shattered the nation's highest glass ceiling, securing the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and positioning herself to become Japan's first female Prime Minister.
The 64-year-old conservative stalwart won the party's leadership election on Saturday, effectively guaranteeing her the country's top job. According to public broadcaster NHK, Takaichi secured a decisive 185 out of 341 votes from LDP parliamentarians and members. The contest culminated in a run-off vote against 44-year-old Shinjiro Koizumi, who would have been the youngest prime minister in Japan's history.
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| Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takaichi celebrates after winning the party leadership election in Tokyo on Oct. 4, 2025. Credit - Kim Kyung-Hoon—Pool/Getty Images |
Addressing the party after her victory, Takaichi acknowledged the historic nature of the moment but quickly pivoted to the immense challenges ahead. “Instead of just celebrating, I know the real challenge starts now,” she said. “I believe there is a mountain of work ahead and we must tackle it together with everyone's support... I will strive to fire up the LDP and make it a positive party, which turns people's anxieties into hope.”
However, while her ascent is a powerful symbol in a nation notorious for its male-dominated political landscape, Takaichi's deeply conservative ideology and controversial track record on gender issues raise profound questions about whether her premiership will translate into tangible progress for Japanese women.
Inheriting a Weakened Party
Takaichi is set to take over from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who resigned last month after a disastrous year in office. Since taking power in 2024—in a leadership race Takaichi initially led but ultimately lost—Ishiba oversaw two significant election defeats. These losses cost the LDP and its coalition partner their majorities in both chambers of parliament for the first time since 1955, forcing them into a precarious minority government.
The party's recent failures are largely attributed to a string of political scandals that have eroded public trust. Takaichi, a more far-right figure in the traditionally center-conservative LDP, comes to power as the party seeks to reform itself and counter the growing appeal of right-wing movements among Japanese voters.
The Paradox of a Conservative Trailblazer
Takaichi's rise is a stark anomaly in Japan's political sphere. The country ranked a dismal 118th out of 148 economies in the World Economic Forum's 2025 Global Gender Gap Report—the lowest among all G-7 nations—with a particularly poor score in the political empowerment metric.
Yet, experts caution against viewing her victory as an automatic win for gender equality. Takaichi, a staunch conservative who has embraced comparisons to former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, is seen by many as a politician who "behaves like men."
“She doesn't have a very positive track record on gender issues, on family-friendly policies, women's empowerment,” Jeff Kingston, a professor of Asian studies at Temple University's Tokyo campus, tells TIME. “Coming from the right wing of the party, there is a strong, conservative family-and-social-values emphasis.”
Who is Sanae Takaichi?
Born in Nara Prefecture, Takaichi graduated from Kobe University in 1984. She spent a year in the United States in 1987 as a congressional fellow, where she notably worked for the late feminist congresswoman Patricia Schroeder.
After a brief career as a TV presenter, she entered politics in 1993, winning a seat in parliament as an independent before joining the LDP in 1996. A nine-term parliamentarian, she forged a close political alliance with the late right-wing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. During his first term, Takaichi held several ministerial posts, including one focused on gender equality, where she took a "traditionalist" approach to family policy reform, according to Hiroko Takeda, a professor of political science at Nagoya University.
She later served as the LDP's policy chief and, under Abe's second administration, as the powerful minister for internal affairs and communications. Her previous runs for prime minister in 2021 and 2024 were unsuccessful, a challenge she once described as being "like an ant challenging an elephant."
A Contradictory Agenda on Gender
During her 2025 campaign, Takaichi seemed to embrace her gender more directly than in the past, a shift noted by Professor Takeda. She promised to aim for Nordic-levels of female representation in her Cabinet and in the LDP's executive committee—a stark contrast to Ishiba's Cabinet, which had only two women in a country where just 15% of parliamentarians are female.
However, these promises are overshadowed by her long-held conservative stances that critics argue actively hinder women's progress:
Opposition to Dual Surnames: Takaichi is a vocal opponent of legalizing
fūfubessei, which would allow married couples to keep their own surnames. She claims such a reform “may destroy the social structure based on family units.” Ironically, Takaichi uses her maiden name, though she was twice married to the same lawmaker.Support for Male-Only Imperial Succession: She staunchly defends Japan’s patrilineal imperial succession laws, arguing that her generation should not "destroy" the tradition of only men from the male imperial line ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
While she has recently proposed women-friendly policies like tax deductions for babysitting and incentives for corporate childcare, experts remain skeptical. Both Kingston and Takeda warn these could be strategic moves to improve her electoral chances rather than a genuine change of heart.
“We tend to appreciate the symbolic effect,” says Takeda. “There is some superficial impact by having a female leader. But I’m to think, with Takaichi becoming LDP’s President… the essence there is an Abe-type LDP politics, which is very conservative, particularly in terms of culture and tradition.”