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Posted on Oct 09, 2025 / World

Takaichi is a nationalist allegedly nicknamed "Taliban" for her conservative views. She cites Margaret Thatcher as her idol.

Sanae Takaichi, 64, has become the leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). She won the party's internal vote, defeating her rival, 44-year-old Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi. The Japanese parliament is expected to confirm her as prime minister at its meeting on October 15.

Takaichi was born in Nara, the ancient capital of Japan. Unlike many high-ranking LDP members, she is not a family-owned politician—her mother worked in the police, and her father worked for an automobile company. Takaichi herself graduated with a degree in business management. She was fascinated with heavy metal music from school, and even played drums in an amateur heavy metal band in university.

After university, Takaichi interned in the United States and worked in the office of Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, a proponent of "tough talk" with Japan. Returning to her homeland, Takaichi became a news anchor. In 1992, she ran for parliament for the first time but lost. After her defeat, her father offered to finance her next election campaign with his pension savings. Takaichi admitted that this moved her to tears.

In 1993, the future politician won a seat in parliament on her second try and has since been re-elected nine more times. While in parliament, Takaichi joined the LDP. She developed a good relationship with fellow party member Shinzo Abe: they entered parliament in the same year and shared similar conservative views. When he became prime minister, Takaichi served in his cabinets as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications and Minister of Special Assignments.

In 2021, Takaichi ran for LDP leader for the first time. Despite Shinzo Abe's support, she finished third out of four candidates. She ran again in 2024, reaching the runoff, but lost again. However, her opponent, Shigeru Ishiba, lasted only a year—after the LDP lost its majority in parliament in the summer of 2025, he decided to step down as party leader. For the third time, Takaichi was successful in the internal party elections.

Sanae Takaichi will be the first woman to lead Japan, a country with a very weak record on gender equality. However, she is not expected to introduce liberal reforms in this area. Takaichi opposed allowing husbands and wives to have different surnames in Japan (currently, they must share a single surname, most often the husband's) and allowing women to ascend to the imperial throne. She also opposes same-sex marriage.

Takaichi's platform is similar to that of her mentor, Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022. She advocates strengthening the military, revising Japan's pacifist constitution, and continuing to stimulate the economy. Like Abe and other conservatives, Takaichi claimed that Japanese crimes during World War II were exaggerated and visited a memorial to Japanese soldiers, including war criminals.

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