Even before she faces a parliament vote to become Japan’s first woman Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi has set a record as the first woman to lead Japan’s dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). After defeating her more centrist rival Shinjiro Koizumi in party elections on Friday, Ms. Takaichi, a 64-year-old protégée of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is seen as a socially conservative right-winger. If she wins the parliamentary vote, as expected, she faces more difficult challenges than breaking the decades-old glass ceiling. To begin with, Ms. Takaichi is the latest in a series of Japanese Prime Ministers ousted from office, even as the LDP and its partner Komeito have lost majorities in both houses, and will need to lead a fractious coalition by reaching out to the opposition. Her predecessor Shigeru Ishiba stepped down after the LDP lost its majority, after serving for less than a year. It remains to be seen how Ms. Takaichi, who has spoken of her admiration for former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, is able to emulate the “Iron Lady’s” successes in holding the party and government together. While clearly the most popular party leader at the moment, she is a polarising politician who is known for strong views against immigration, and in favour of revising Japan’s pacifist constitution. She does not project a feminist agenda and has been criticised for refusing to review archaic Japanese laws on married women keeping surnames or on the more contentious issue of female succession in Japanese royalty. The second challenge is geopolitical — Japan’s public confidence in the United States has been shaken by the Trump administration’s actions, including driving a hard bargain on the Free Trade Agreement. Ms. Takaichi is a hardliner on China, which could put her on a collision course with Beijing. Her rise has also been seen with some concern in South Korea, which had begun to warm up to Japan, as her visits to the Yasukuni shrine to venerate Japanese war heroes, and her tough line against war reparations, may be a red flag. Finally, Ms. Takaichi, a former Economic Security Minister, will have to contend with Japan’s long-term economic challenges and demographic decline.
In India, her win will be largely seen positively, given her association with Shinzo Abe, whose tenures saw rapid improvements in India-Japan ties. The government will seek to continue its cooperation on many fronts, especially in technology and critical mineral processing. Above all, amidst uncertainty over the Quad summit and Mr. Trump’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific policy, New Delhi will hope to see a strong leader in Tokyo, who will help shore up the geopolitical turbulence that the region now faces.
Published – October 06, 2025 12:10 am IST
