Sanae Takaichi
Updated: Wikipedia source
Sanae Takaichi (born 7 March 1961) is a Japanese politician who became President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Prime Minister of Japan in 2025. She is the first woman to hold either of these positions. A member of the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003 and since 2005, she also held ministerial posts during the premierships of Shinzo Abe and Fumio Kishida. Born and raised in Nara Prefecture, Takaichi graduated from Kobe University and worked as an author, legislative aide, and broadcaster before beginning her political career. Elected as an independent to the House of Representatives in the 1993 general election, she joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 1996. A protégé of Prime Minister Abe, she held various positions during Abe's premiership, most notably as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications. She was a candidate in the 2021 LDP leadership election, but was eliminated before the runoff, placing third. From 2022 to 2024, during Fumio Kishida's premiership, she served as the Minister of State for Economic Security. Takaichi made her second run for the party leadership in the 2024 leadership election, where she came in first in the first round but narrowly lost in a runoff to her predecessor Shigeru Ishiba. She eventually ran again in the 2025 leadership election for the third time and placed first in both rounds of voting, defeating Shinjirō Koizumi, and becoming the party's first female president. Following the end of the LDP–Komeito coalition, Takaichi secured a coalition agreement with the Japan Innovation Party, and was elected prime minister by the National Diet on 21 October. During her premiership, Takaichi faced a diplomatic crisis with China after a statement she made regarding Japan's involvement regarding a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan and subsequent threatening remarks by a Chinese diplomat. Takaichi's views have been variably described as conservative or ultraconservative. Her domestic policy includes support for proactive government spending and continuing Abenomics. She has taken conservative positions on social issues, such as opposition to same-sex marriage, to the recognition of separate surnames for spouses, and to female succession to the Japanese throne. She supports revising Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, which renounces the use of military force, a pro-Taiwanese foreign policy, and strengthening the US–Japan alliance. A member of the far-right Nippon Kaigi, she has been described as holding revisionist views of Japan's conduct during the Second World War, and criticized the Murayama and Kono statements which apologized for Japanese colonialism. She made regular visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine prior to her premiership. In 2025, Forbes ranked Takaichi as the third most powerful woman and the most powerful Asian woman in the world.