For the first time, a woman holds Japan’s highest political office. Sanae Takaichi of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was elected in October 2025 as Japan’s first female prime minister through a clear majority — 237 votes in the Lower House and 125 in the Upper House. Takaichi is the fourth prime minister in five years, following Shinzo Abe, Fumio Kishida, and Shigeru Ishiba, all members of the dominant conservative LDP. Her predecessors’ prime ministerships were cut short by plunging ratings and scandals, as well as rising prices and declining trust in the LDP. Takaichi, however, began her term with an unprecedented approval rating close to 70%, indicating widespread support for a new face in Japan’s highest office.
Takaichi is no stranger to politics. While she comes from a relatively more modest upbringing than some of her colleagues, she has been involved in the Japanese government since the 1990s after graduating from Kobe University. She served in the cabinets of former PMs Abe and Kishida, most notably in the role of minister of international communications. Her emphasis during her campaign, however, did not focus on her experience under past administrations.
During her campaign for the office of prime minister, Takaichi aimed to present herself as a relatable and fresh face in Japanese politics. She has spoken on Japanese radio stations about her habit of letting off steam through heavy metal drumming and sang a rock anthem on national television. As a politician with her own fandom (Sana-katsu), supporters see her election as ushering in a different era of politics. Among her supporters, young voters stand out as particularly enthusiastic compared to their support of former prime ministers. In December 2025, approval ratings for Takaichi’s cabinet among 18- and 19-year-olds were at a stunning 92%. Indeed, her unusually high approval ratings demonstrate a hope that Takaichi will lead Japanese politics in a new direction. However, Takaichi’s stance on social issues, economic policy, as well as geopolitical tensions reiterates the positions of previous Japanese prime ministers more than a new vision for Japan.
Her views on social policy, especially on the topics of gender equality and World War II, have led to controversy. Although Takaichi is the first female prime minister of Japan, her views do not reflect support for feminism or women’s empowerment. Takaichi advocates for conventional gender roles, which include forcing women to give up their maiden names after marriage, ensuring male-only succession to the Japanese throne, and prohibiting same-sex marriage. She has criticized gender quotas and failed to prioritize workplace equality. In a country that ranked 118th out of 148 countries in 2025 in terms of gender equity, Takaichi’s refusal to directly confront gender norms from the highest position of power will not lead to empowerment for Japanese women. Consequently, polls have shown that Takaichi’s approval rates are higher among men than women.
Furthermore, Takaichi’s party, the LDP, has had a majority in the Japanese Parliament since 1988, and introducing more women into politics will depend on their efforts. However, the LDP also opposes gender quotas and only 13% of the party are women. Although Takaichi promised during her campaign to appoint women to 50% of her cabinet, she has thus far appointed just two women to key positions in her cabinet, placing Katayama Satsuki as the head of the Ministry of Finance and Onoda Kimi as minister of economic security and foreign residents.
Beyond her antiquated stance on gender equality, Takaichi has also been the subject of controversy on the topic of Japanese war crimes during World War II. She was one of the first sitting cabinet members to visit a controversial Yasukuni Shrine dedicated to fallen Japanese soldiers, which includes convicted “Class A” war criminals from World War II. Historically, politicians’ visits to this shrine have sparked fierce outrage from China and South Korea; however, some Japanese politicians continue to publicly visit the shrine. Indeed, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also closely linked to rewriting Japan’s past. In the 1990s, he was part of a parliamentary committee that published a report denying the Nanjing Massacre, where scholars estimate that total murders by the Japanese army in the first six weeks numbered 200,000. In 2006 and 2007, Abe denied that the Japanese government was responsible for the subjugation of “comfort women” during the war. By 1946, however, between 20,000 and 410,000 women had been kidnapped by Japan and enslaved in brothels, where they were subject to rape by Japanese and sometimes American soldiers. Takaichi and Abe’s revisionist stance on Japan in World War II turns the clock too far back for Japan.
Takaichi’s economic policy also looks backwards, not forwards. Takaichi’s strategy appears to focus on expansionary fiscal policies such as tax cuts and government subsidies to target increasing economic hardships in Japan. During her campaign, she promised to revive the style of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policies, Abenomics, as his protégé. However, Abenomics intended to address economic concerns in Japan during a period of deflation. Today, Abe’s expansionary policies and increases in spending would exacerbate rising prices. Japan has faced months of declining wages, while the overall inflation rate is 2-3% and the price of food has skyrocketed. Last year, rice prices rose by 68%. The weak yen is also contributing to a loss of purchasing power for Japanese consumers. Tax cuts would allow consumers to spend more, which sounds beneficial at face value. But when demand increases due to more spending power, prices skyrocket when combined with limited supply, which actually decreases consumers’ purchasing power. Government subsidies also have a similar effect by increasing consumer demand. However, the promise of these cash benefits and economic relief has made Takaichi’s version of Abenomics, “Sanaenomics”, immensely popular. The policies may worsen inflation in the long-run rather than combat the overall increase in prices.
Takaichi’s counterproductive policies aren’t constrained to domestic issues, either. On one hand, her geopolitical stance has won her support from Japanese citizens looking for leaders who will take a firm stance on China. In November 2026, Takaichi remarked that Chinese conflict and military force against Taiwan could turn into a “survival-threatening” situation for Japan. In response, several Chinese officials and departments issued public statements decrying Prime Minister Takaichi’s comment and even criticized Japan to other actors such as the United Nations and President Trump. However, supporters in Japan reacted positively to a prime minister who is strong on defense and unwilling to back down to a Chinese threat. In particular, young voters are once again hoping that Takaichi’s firm stance on defense may adjust Japan’s long-standing commitment to pacifism. Sixty-four percent of Japanese citizens aged 18-39 approved of Takaichi’s approach to China compared with a 43% approval rate from those above the age of 60. Clearly, her take on China is impressing young voters, a demographic that previous prime ministers were unable to win over.
Former prime ministers have also made inflammatory remarks on Taiwan and China. In 2024, former PM Fumio Kishida commented that “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow”, likening the Russian invasion of Ukraine to a similar Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Takaichi’s firm geopolitical opposition to China that currently sways Japanese voters is in fact a reframed version of typical LDP foreign policy. In fact, Takaichi is continuing the LDP mission of advocating to revise Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution, which constrains Japan to defensive military action as a result of Japan’s conquest of East and Southeast Asia during World War II.
Geopolitical tension in East Asia should not be taken lightly. In 2022, Chinese President Xi declared that even though China would seek peaceful reunification with Taiwan, it would “reserve the option of taking all measures necessary”. Since then, China has regularly conducted large military exercises around Taiwan. With other disputes as well, China has escalated tensions around the Senkaku Islands, a disputed island chain with valuable resources, and trespassed into Japan’s territorial waters. Amid such fraught geopolitical ties with China, Takaichi’s incendiary words do nothing to protect Japan. Instead, they risk damaging their immense economic ties and mutually beneficial trade relationship.
Even though Takaichi herself declared that “the LDP must change for the sake of Japan’s present and future”, her social, economic, and geopolitical stances and policies do not demonstrate change. Instead, she seems to be following the playbook of former prime ministers of the LDP, in particular, Abe Shinzo. While Takaichi has enjoyed unusually high approval ratings due to the public perception that she is a fresh face for politics, voters may lose this positive perception of her prime ministership if her policies stay on their current trajectory. Although she has made international headlines as the first female prime minister of Japan, in actuality, her policies and practices are anything but “firsts.”
