Japan's First Female Prime Minister Resembling Abe...The Path Takaichi Has Walked [Japan Insight]

Sanae Takaichi Becomes Japan's 104th Prime Minister
A Parliamentary Peer of Abe; Held Key Government Posts
Annual Visits to Yasukuni Shrine, Staunch Nationalist

Sanae Takaichi, leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, has taken office as the country's 104th Prime Minister and the first female Prime Minister in Japanese history. Both domestically and internationally, there are mixed feelings of uncertainty. These concerns are not unfounded. The path Takaichi has walked and the positions she has expressed are quite similar to those of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who led Japan's rightward shift. However, it is impossible to predict with certainty what direction she will take after her appointment. To anticipate the future of Korea-Japan relations, it is essential to learn about the new leader. Today, we present the story of Japan's new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi.

Sanae Takaichi, Japan's 104th Prime Minister and the first female Prime Minister. Photo by Yonhap News

A Self-Made Politician...A Parliamentary Peer of Abe

Prime Minister Takaichi was born on March 7, 1961. While it is common for Japanese politicians to inherit their parents' constituencies, she was born into an ordinary family. Although she wanted to attend prestigious universities in Tokyo such as Keio University, she chose Kobe University’s School of Business Administration to avoid burdening her family with high tuition fees. There is an anecdote that during this time, she became passionate about heavy metal music and played drums in a band. She also enjoyed motorcycle riding, and even now, she introduces her beloved Kawasaki Z400GP on her official website. This is an unexpected side of her.

After graduation, she continued her studies at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, founded by Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic. Although it does not grant degrees, it is considered a training ground for politicians. At that time, she was the only woman in her class.

Sanae Takaichi posing with her motorcycle. Official website of Sanae Takaichi.

After leaving the Matsushita Institute, she worked as a broadcast news anchor. In 1992, at the age of 31, she ran as an independent candidate in the House of Councillors election, which is equivalent to the upper house, but was not elected. Undeterred, she campaigned tirelessly from dawn until evening at train stations, and the following year, she won her first seat in the House of Representatives (lower house) as an independent. In that same year, her fellow new lawmaker was none other than Shinzo Abe, who is seven years her senior. In 1996, she joined the Liberal Democratic Party and entered the Seiwa Policy Research Council, which began as a study group but eventually became the largest faction within the party, known as the "Abe faction." By joining this group, she began to interact with former Prime Minister Abe.

Prime Minister Takaichi also worked with former Prime Minister Abe in the "Young Lawmakers Group for Considering Japan's Future and History Education." You can probably guess the kind of history education they advocated. In 1997, this group campaigned to remove references to "comfort women" from middle school history textbooks. In her autobiography, Prime Minister Takaichi later wrote, "Because the history textbooks were influenced by a certain teachers' organization responsible for their adoption, the more self-deprecating and left-leaning the content (from Japan's perspective), the better they sold."

On the 5th, Sanae Takaichi attended a spirited rally, appealing for support. Behind her is her slogan, "For the Japan." Sanae Takaichi Official Website.

As former Prime Minister Abe gradually moved to the center of power, Prime Minister Takaichi also entered the Cabinet in 2006 as Minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs during the first Abe administration. When the second Abe administration was launched, Takaichi became the first female Policy Research Council Chairperson of the Liberal Democratic Party and later served as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, among other key positions. In 2011, Prime Minister Takaichi declared herself "factionless," leading some to see her as less tied to any particular group. However, given that she was appointed by former Prime Minister Abe and effectively took over the leadership role of the Seiwa Policy Research Council after his death and its subsequent dissolution, it is difficult to say she is unrelated to Abe's legacy. In 2021, former Prime Minister Abe supported Takaichi as a candidate in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election. The following year, when Abe was killed during a campaign speech, Prime Minister Takaichi confessed on social media, "Since the incident, I have barely slept and vomit whenever I try to eat. I have never experienced such physical and mental exhaustion, not even when my parents passed away."

Poster of the joint Liberal Democratic Party speech event held in December 2021 by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and newly appointed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Shinzo Abe X.

It Was a Losing Game...But Rightward Shift Led to a Turnaround

Prime Minister Takaichi won the premiership on her third attempt. At the beginning of the election, Shinjiro Koizumi, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, known for his "cool and aloof" persona, was in the lead. It was an uphill battle, but she ultimately turned the tables. Japanese media analyzed that the key to her victory was the "consolidation of conservative support." Recently, in Japan, the far-right political party Sanseito, which promotes a "Japan First" agenda, has been gaining ground.

Prime Minister Takaichi responded to this trend with slogans such as "Make Japan Strong and Prosperous." The most notable incident during her campaign was the "deer remark." She claimed that foreign tourists were abusing the famous deer in her hometown of Nara Prefecture and called for measures to address this issue. Although she did not specify the nationality of the tourists, online hate speech quickly targeted Chinese and Korean visitors.

This resulted in conservative public opinion rallying behind Prime Minister Takaichi. Party members' votes are also included in the election, and this led to a consolidation effect among the party base. As moderate factions had taken power in recent years, the previously dominant Abe faction had lost influence, which created an atmosphere of "if you are a true conservative, support Takaichi."

Will She Fully Inherit Abe's Legacy...Future Variables

What path will Japan take under Prime Minister Takaichi's leadership?

Prime Minister Takaichi has long been a staunch supporter of visiting Yasukuni Shrine and is classified as a hardline conservative, opposing the selective married surname system (which would allow married couples to keep their own surnames). However, even though she is a hardline conservative, it remains uncertain whether she will follow all of former Prime Minister Abe's footsteps. This time, she skipped the Yasukuni Shrine visit, apparently in consideration of public opinion. Some interpret this as an effort to ease public anxiety about excessively hardline policies.

In 2024, Sanae Takaichi, then Minister in charge of Economic Security, was seen leaving after paying respects at Yasukuni Shrine during the spring grand festival. Photo by Yonhap News.

Currently, the Liberal Democratic Party is not as dominant as it was during the Abe administration. It failed to secure enough seats to avoid a divided Diet, often referred to as a "twisted parliament." Japanese media also question whether the ruling party, now weakened, can push through legislation as the Abe administration did.

Whether or not she will continue Abenomics is also a point of interest. The Japanese stock market has already reacted to the news of Prime Minister Takaichi's inauguration. However, with prices continuing to rise in Japan, the government now needs to prioritize controlling inflation rather than focusing solely on economic stagnation as it did during the Abenomics era. There is also a view that the Japanese government currently lacks sufficient capacity to pursue another round of aggressive monetary easing.

It remains to be seen how Japan will navigate its diplomacy with neighboring countries, including South Korea. Since the new Prime Minister adheres to a similar historical perspective as the Abe administration, there is a high possibility that relations among Korea, China, and Japan could deteriorate. Meanwhile, there is also keen interest in how she will handle relations with the United States under President Trump and respond to the possibility of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The new Prime Minister's diplomatic moves will be closely watched going forward.