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yesterday

Sanae Takaichi Elected Japan’s First Female Prime Minister as LDP–Ishin Alliance Takes Power

An Abe-aligned conservative, she takes office atop a tenuous LDP–Ishin alignment lacking secure majorities.

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Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (C, first row) poses during a photo session with members of her cabinet at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan October 21, 2025. PHILIP FONG/Pool via REUTERS REFILE - CORRECTING LOCATION FROM "PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICIAL RESIDENCE" TO "PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE".
Newly elected Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takaichi celebrates after winning the LDP leadership election on Oct. 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS)

Overview

  • Parliament chose Takaichi with 237 votes in the Lower House and 125 in the Upper House, confirming her as Japan’s 104th leader.
  • The Liberal Democratic Party lost longtime partner Komeito and struck a pact with the Japan Innovation Party, yet the two still fall short of firm majorities in both chambers.
  • Takaichi unveiled a cabinet with only two women, naming Satsuki Katayama as Japan’s first female finance minister and Kimi Onoda as economic security minister, while tapping Shinjiro Koizumi for defense and Toshimitsu Motegi for foreign affairs.
  • She signaled a conservative program centered on constitutional revision, stronger defense and pro‑growth measures to ease living costs, reflecting her alignment with the late Shinzo Abe’s agenda.
  • Her first diplomatic tests arrive within days with a planned Tokyo meeting with President Donald Trump and regional summits, even as neighbors watch her China and South Korea stance closely.