Sanae Takaichi, a veteran conservative lawmaker in Japan who cites Margaret Thatcher as an influence, is set to become Japan’s first female prime minister after prevailing Saturday in an important leadership election.
While she is poised to break a gender barrier in politics, Ms. Takaichi’s own views on women’s rights are complicated, and she has been criticized by some for not doing enough to promote gender equality.
Her rise reflects an eagerness for change by the governing Liberal Democratic Party, which she now leads, after electoral defeats over the past year — as well as the party’s attempt to respond to the growing strength of right-wing groups in Japan.
Here’s what to know about Ms. Takaichi, her views and the challenges she might face in leading Japan.
What is Ms. Takaichi’s background?
Ms. Takaichi, 64, grew up in Nara Prefecture in central Japan. She is an unusual figure in high-level Japanese politics because she does not come from a prominent political family. Her mother was a police officer, and her father worked for a car company. She was first elected to Parliament in 1993.
She attended Kobe University, where she played drums and drove a motorcycle. After graduation, she spent time in the United States, interning with Representative Patricia Schroeder of Colorado, a Democrat.
How did she rise in politics?
In the 2000s, Ms. Takaichi became an ally of Shinzo Abe, who went on to become a long-serving prime minister. He was assassinated in 2022 after he had stepped down. Like Mr. Abe, she supported amending the pacifist Constitution, a contentious position in a country wary of military aggression.
Ms. Takaichi is one of a small number of women to reach the highest levels of government in Japan. She has served stints as a government minister, overseeing economic security, internal affairs and communications, and she ran to lead the Liberal Democratic Party in 2021 and 2024.
On Saturday, she prevailed in an election by the L.D.P. after two rounds of voting by lawmakers and rank-and-file members. She beat out four men to become the party’s president.
What policies is she known for?
Ms. Takaichi has been a prominent critic of China’s efforts to expand military and economic influence, and she has called for Japan to do more to strengthen its defense capabilities. She has also been a staunch supporter of a return to “Abenomics” — a platform of low interest rates coupled with broad government spending.
During the campaign, she seized on a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. She said that Japan should create a “command center” to oversee issues related to foreigners. And she blamed tourists for kicking the cherished deer in Nara, where she is from, and doing pull-ups on gates outside sacred shrines.
Like Mr. Abe and other conservatives, Ms. Takaichi has argued that Japanese atrocities during World War II have been overstated. She regularly visits Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial in Tokyo honoring Japan’s war dead — including Class A war criminals from World War II — that is a flashpoint for historical sensitivities in China and South Korea.
After her victory on Saturday, Ms. Takaichi called the shrine a “facility to console the war dead and a shrine of peace.” She did not address whether she would continue to visit the shrine, saying only that she would “make an appropriate decision how to console them and how to pray for peace.”
What are her views on women’s rights?
Ms. Takaichi has been accused of embracing policies that feminists say diminish women’s rights. For example, she supported a law requiring married couples to share a surname. But she has also sought to expand health care for women, and she has promised to appoint a large share of women to her cabinet. There are only two women in the current 20-person cabinet, and women make up about a fifth of Parliament.
Ms. Takaichi has often cited Ms. Thatcher, the former British prime minister, as a role model. She once called a memoir by Ms. Thatcher, “My treasure.”
What challenges might she face?
Ms. Takaichi faces an immediate hurdle: She must win the support of enough lawmakers in Japan’s Parliament, the Diet, to be elected prime minister of the coalition government. Because of its recent electoral losses, the L.D.P. is in the unusual position of being a minority in both houses of Parliament. That means that Ms. Takaichi will have to win support from other groups.
Ms. Takaichi is expected to eventually prevail and lead a country undergoing rapid change. She would be expected to address issues like rising food prices, stagnant wages, China’s military buildup in the South China Sea and the pressures created by Japan’s aging population.
She will also need to build a relationship with President Trump, who is set to visit Asia this month. Japan and the United States are still working out the details of a trade agreement.
Speaking to her colleagues on Saturday, Ms. Takaichi promised to work on behalf of the Japanese public.
“I’ll give up work-life balance,” she said. “I’ll be humble.”
Javier C. Hernández is the Tokyo bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of Japan.
Hisako Ueno is a reporter and researcher based in Tokyo, writing on Japanese politics, business, labor, gender and culture.
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