October 6, 2025
TOKYO – Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi will become Japan’s first female prime minister if she is chosen to lead the government at an extraordinary Diet session to be convened as early as Oct. 15.
Having gained wide support mainly from conservative voters, Takaichi has been elected as the new president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, avenging her runoff loss in the previous election in September 2024.
Matsushita Institute of Government and Management
Takaichi was born in Nara as the eldest of two siblings. Her father worked for a manufacturing company and her mother was a police officer.
She has loved listening to heavy metal music since she was an elementary school student. A drummer in a heavy metal band in the rock music club at Kobe University, she spent her school days surrounded by music.
After graduating from university, Takaichi joined the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, which led her to become a politician. Panasonic Corp. founder Konosuke Matsushita, who created the institute, predicted that “Japan will enter a period of long-term recession in the 1990s. The era of the global system centered on the United States and the Soviet Union will be over, and the 21st century will be the era of Asia.”
Takaichi decided to become a politician after hearing his words at the age of 24, thinking, “I want to formulate policy in the national political arena.”
A Toyota Supra owned by Sanae Takaichiin on display in Nara. PHOTO: THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
Letter from her father
In July 1992, Takaichi ran for the House of Councillors as an independent candidate in the Nara electoral district but failed to win. This was primarily due to her not receiving the LDP’s official endorsement, which resulted in conservative candidates competing against each other.
When she returned home one day after her parents had gone to bed, she found a letter from her father on the table. He had written: “You can use all my retirement money to help finance your election campaign. Be confident and don’t forget to shake hands and bow. Take it easy.” Takaichi cried as she held the letter against her chest.
She finally achieved her first long-awaited victory in July 1993 when she ran for the House of Representatives as an independent candidate in the former electoral district that covered all of Nara Prefecture. Amid the new-party boom in 1994, she participated in the formation of the now-defunct Liberal Party and New Frontier Party.
In 1996, Takaichi joined the LDP. She was liked by late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and built a good relationship with him — they had their first election victory in the same year and shared similar conservative political beliefs.
Tatsuya Ito, a former state minister for financial services who joined the Matsushita institute the same year as Takaichi, said: “She was highly interested in national security issues at that time. I guess she began strongly communicating her views as a conservative politician while she took on weighty responsibilities under her relationship of trust with Abe.”
Continuing Abe’s policies
Takaichi was committed to carrying on Abe’s political positions even after he stepped down as prime minister.
In the 2021 election for the LDP presidency, Takaichi received strong support from Abe and was able to run in the election. However, she came in third out of four candidates. In the 2024 election, which involved nine candidates, she lost in the runoff. Over the past 12 months, Takaichi has continued to visit various regional cities to expand her support base.
Highly popular among the people, she won an overwhelming number of votes from rank-and-file party members while also gaining wide support from Diet members. Takaichi finally became the first female president of the LDP in her third attempt.
Hanshin Tigers fan
Takaichi is also known as an enthusiastic fan of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team and has high hopes for the team to finish No. 1 in Japan this season for the first time in two years.
“Butaman” steamed pork bans, a specialty of the Kansai region, are a favorite food. Takaichi eats them in between work to keep her energy up.
She is an automobile enthusiast and has used a Toyota Supra sports car as her favorite since the 1990s.