Japan nära ny regering – och kvinnlig premiärminister

Sanae Takaichi (born 7 March 1961) is a Japanese politician who has served as president of the Liberal Democratic Party since October 2025. A member of the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003 and since 2005, she has also held several ministerial posts under prime ministers Shinzo Abe and Fumio Kishida. If elected prime minister by the National Diet, she would become the first woman to hold the office, as well as the first from Nara Prefecture. Born and raised in Nara, 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 1993, she joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 1996. A protégé of Abe, Takaichi 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 Minister of State for Economic Security. Takaichi made her second run for the party leadership in 2024, where she came in first in the first round but narrowly lost in a runoff to Shigeru Ishiba. She ran again in 2025 and placed first in both rounds of voting, becoming party president and defeating Shinjirō Koizumi. Her views have been variably described as conservative and ultraconservative. Her domestic policy includes support for proactive government spending and the continuation of Abenomics. She has taken conservative positions on social issues, such as opposition to same-sex marriage, the recognition of separate surnames for spouses, and female succession to the Japanese throne. Her foreign policy includes support for revising Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, which renounces the use of military force, and strengthening the US–Japan alliance. She is considered pro-Taiwan and a China hawk. A member of the Japanese ultranationalist organization Nippon Kaigi, she has argued that Japanese war crimes have been exaggerated; she has regularly visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.