[News Figures] "Yasukuni Shrine is Precious"... Sanae Takaichi, Aspiring to Be Japan's First Female Prime Minister

Far-right-leaning, Former TV Asahi Anchor
De Facto Successor to Former Prime Minister Abe
Rapidly Rising, Surpassing Former Environment Minister Koizumi

"Yasukuni Shrine is a place that has been cherished very much."

Sanae Takaichi (63), Japan's Minister of Economic Security, said this at a press conference announcing her candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election on the 9th. Minister Takaichi is a right-wing female politician. She said, "I hope that the respect for those who tried to protect the homeland will continue."

Yasukuni Shrine, where Class A war criminals of the Pacific War are enshrined, is like a sacred site for Japanese right-wingers. She visits Yasukuni Shrine every year during the spring and autumn grand festivals and on Japan's defeat anniversary (August 15).

On August 15th, Takaiichi, Japan's Minister in charge of Economic Security, is answering reporters' questions after paying respects at Yasukuni Shrine. [Photo by Yonhap News]

With the LDP presidential election scheduled for the 27th, the situation is changing. In multiple polls, Minister Takaichi, who had been in third place in approval ratings, has surged, overturning the two-horse race between former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba (67) and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi (43).

On the 23rd, Nippon Television (Nittere), a private broadcaster, conducted a poll from the 20th to 21st targeting 1,007 LDP members and party supporters. The results showed former Secretary-General Ishiba in first place with 31%, Minister Takaichi in second with 28%, and former Environment Minister Koizumi in third with 14%. Analysts suggest that Minister Takaichi is absorbing conservative support, opposing former Environment Minister Koizumi, who advocated for the legalization of the separate surname system for married couples.

The LDP presidential election holds a runoff if no candidate obtains a majority in the first round. Nittere predicted that former Secretary-General Ishiba would receive about 160 votes, Minister Takaichi 140 votes, and former Environment Minister Koizumi 110 votes. If this continues, Koizumi, who aims to become the youngest prime minister in history, will be eliminated in the first round.

Sanae Takaichi (third from the left), who ran for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency for the first time in 2021. As a result of the election, Fumio Kishida, former LDP Policy Research Council Chairman (second from the left), was elected as the party president.
[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

Minister Takaichi is known as the "female Abe" due to her close following of the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. She once served as an advisor to the intra-party parliamentary group "Conservative Unity Group" alongside Abe. After Abe's death, she became an advisor to the "Shinzo Abe Former Prime Minister Appreciation and Succession Association" and participated in the establishment of a memorial monument.

She has stated that if she becomes prime minister, she will inherit and strengthen Abe's policies on economic views, diplomacy, and security. She proposed policies that essentially maintain Abe's so-called "three arrows" of Abenomics: ▲ monetary easing ▲ fiscal expansion ▲ structural reforms. She is regarded as Abe's de facto successor.

Sanae Takaichi was born on March 7, 1961, in Nara Prefecture, Japan. In 1984, the year she graduated from Kobe University’s Department of Business Administration, she entered Matsushita Seikei Juku. This is a political and economic school established in 1979 by Konosuke Matsushita, founder of Panasonic, to nurture Japanese youth without political bases as next-generation leaders.

The appearance of Sanae Takaichi during her TV anchor days [Photo source=YouTube capture]

In March 1989, she worked as an anchor for TV Asahi, a Japanese private broadcaster. In July 1993, she ran as an independent candidate in the 40th House of Representatives election for Nara Prefecture’s former district and was elected for the first time at age 32. After serving three consecutive terms (40th to 42nd), she lost once but ran again and succeeded in five consecutive terms (44th to 48th). She joined the LDP in 1996 and married fellow LDP House of Representatives member Taku Yamamoto in 2004. The couple divorced in 2017 but reconciled in 2021.

In September 2006, she entered the cabinet for the first time as Minister of State for Special Missions in the first Abe Cabinet, a ministerial-level position in Korea. She was responsible for Okinawa and Northern Territories issues, food safety, innovation, low birthrate, and gender equality. In September 2014, she was appointed as the first female Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications in the second Abe reshuffled cabinet.

She is also Japan’s longest-serving Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications. She ran for the LDP presidency for the first time in 2021. Although she ranked second in the parliamentary vote behind current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, she lost in the first round, placing third due to lower support among party members.