E-Paper
From Thatcher fan to Japan’s top job: What we know about PM-to-be Sanae Takaichi
Sanae Takaichi is expected to become the premier later this month in a parliamentary vote.
Japan is on the verge of a historic leadership change, as Sanae Takaichi, a conservative heavyweight and former Minister of Economic Security, is set to become the country's first female Prime Minister.
Takaichi is expected to become the premier later this month in a parliamentary vote.
Her possible appointment follows her election as the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Her appointment marks a breakthrough in Japan's political landscape, which men have long dominated.
Takaichi, known for her nationalist stance and admiration for former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, represents a right-wing shift for the LDP as it now seeks to attract younger voters, who are being drawn to smaller parties.
While her potential appointment to the country's top position breaks a significant barrier in Japan's otherwise male-dominated politics, her ideologies are rooted in conservative beliefs, far from the progressive feminist movement.
Here are five facts about Japan's new PM Sanae Takaichi:
- Sanae Takaichi is poised to become Japan's first female prime minister, but many of her positions are socially conservative in a nation that remains deeply patriarchal.
- She has promised to appoint a cabinet with "Nordic" levels of women, up from just two under outgoing premier Shigeru Ishiba.
- Takaichi is the first female president of Japan's predominantly male ruling party that has dominated Japan's postwar politics almost without interruption.
- First elected to parliament from her hometown of Nara in 1993, she has served in key party and government posts, including Minister of Economic Security, Internal Affairs, and Gender Equality.
- The 64-year-old Takaichi also said she "hopes to raise awareness" about women's health struggles and spoke candidly about her own experience with menopause.
- Yuki Tsuji, a professor specialising in politics and gender at Tokai University, said Takaichi "has no interest in women's rights or gender equality policies".
- She is opposed to revising a 19th-century law that requires married couples to share the same surname, which overwhelmingly results in women adopting their husbands' names.
- Takaichi also wants Japan's imperial family to stick to its male-only succession rules, and is "fundamentally opposed" to same-sex marriage.
- Takaichi said she is a workaholic who would rather study at home than socialise. After unsuccessfully running for party presidency twice in the past, she made efforts to be more sociable to build connections, as advised, she said.
- Takaichi has backed financial support for women's health and fertility treatment as part of the LDP's policy of having women serve in their traditional roles as good mothers and wives.
