In Japan, women have long been severely underrepresented at the highest levels of business, government and society, the product of a culture that expects them to bear a disproportionate share of child care and housework.
But on Tuesday, the country is poised for a milestone: Sanae Takaichi, a hard-line conservative lawmaker who idolizes Margaret Thatcher, is expected to be named Japan’s next prime minister during an extraordinary session of Parliament. She would be the first woman to serve in that role and the first woman at the top of Japanese government in centuries.
Ms. Takaichi, 64, is a divisive figure in Japan, and her breaking of the glass ceiling has drawn a range of reactions. Her supporters have hailed her as a pioneer who knows firsthand the challenges of Japan’s male-dominated culture. Activists and scholars have expressed concern that she will continue to support policies that have held Japanese women back. Political rivals have accused her of serving as a puppet to men in her party; one male lawmaker recently described her as a bride that had married into a powerful political faction.
But many Japanese women say they hope Ms. Takaichi will help normalize the image of strong female leaders and use her platform to push family-friendly policies, like expanding access to day care.
“This is a first for Japan,” said Hikari Minagawa, 19, a freshman at Otsuma Women’s University in Tokyo. “I want Takaichi to make it easier for women to become politicians and representatives. Stepping confidently into the political world for women — I think she’ll be able to achieve that. Takaichi is strong. She’s cool.”
Ms. Takaichi’s own views on gender are complex. She is not known as a feminist. And like other conservative women in politics, including Ms. Thatcher and Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, Ms. Takaichi has embraced policies that critics say have eroded women’s rights. She opposed changing a longstanding law that requires married couples to share a surname, and she has backed efforts to preserve the male lineage of Japan’s imperial family.
Some activists, scholars and politicians worry that little would change for Japanese women under Ms. Takaichi, who won election as president of the governing Liberal Democratic Party this month, beating four men for the post.
Momoko Nojo, founder of No Youth No Japan, a youth advocacy group, called Ms. Takaichi’s election “very symbolic.” But she added that “the situation for women will not improve,” given the conservative ideology of many L.D.P. officials and voters.
“She is the very first woman to take this step forward,” Ms. Nojo said. “But she came to this position by discouraging gender equality in society. I don’t think she will make much progress.”
Japan has long lagged other democratic nations in giving women political power. Women held about 16 percent of seats in the lower house of Parliament as of last month, putting Japan at 141st out of 183 countries in the proportion of women in the national legislature, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a Swiss-based organization.
Last year, 73 women won seats in Parliament in a general election, a record. But women are still scarce at the highest levels of government: There are only two women in the current cabinet.
In the business world, Japan’s female labor force participation rate surpasses that of many other advanced economies, including the United States. However, a significant number of women occupy relatively low-level positions. More than half of Japanese firms have an all-male team of executives, according to a recent survey of over 20,000 Japanese companies compiled by the data provider Teikoku Databank.
Ms. Takaichi has cultivated the image of being an extreme workhorse — notably declaring she would scrap her work-life balance to “work and work and work and work.” But critics said this stance could be problematic to broadcast to Japanese society given that a culture of overwork in Japanese business and politics, including long hours and late-night socializing, impedes advancement opportunities for women, who also retain most household and child-care responsibilities.
Ms. Takaichi spoke early in her career about the isolation she sometimes felt as a woman in politics.
In a 1995 book, written two years after she was first elected to Parliament from Nara Prefecture, in western Japan, she recalled feeling excluded when male colleagues held nighttime meetings at clubs and saunas.
“Lately, I’ve just given up and started going along no matter where they go,” she wrote.
She wrote that she longed for a day when women in politics could be themselves.
“A true era for women will arrive when many female politicians emerge who are neither the mascot type who exploit their femininity excessively, nor the tough-guy type who discard their femininity excessively,” she wrote.
In the Japanese news media, Ms. Takaichi has been portrayed as the energetic new face of the L.D.P., which has suffered a series of bruising electoral losses over the past year and recently lost its main coalition partner of the past 26 years. But some analysts argue that Ms. Takaichi’s rise could be more about her party’s eagerness for change than gender equality.
“The glass ceiling was not broken,” said Mari Miura, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo. “It was a small hole.”
Ms. Takaichi has firmly opposed revising the more than century-old law that does not allow both members of a married couple to keep their surnames. Since this overwhelmingly results in women taking their husband’s name, critics argue that the tradition restricts a woman’s right to maintain her identity. Ms. Takaichi is also against changing a 1947 law stipulating that only men can inherit Japan’s imperial throne, despite a potential succession crisis.
Japan has had female rulers across its imperial history, with varying degrees of power. The last woman to hold the title to Japan’s Chrysanthemum Throne was Gosakuramachi, who reigned in the late 1700s.
While Ms. Takaichi has made a high-profile promise to increase the number of women in her cabinet to “Nordic levels,” which are typically closer to 50 percent, she has repeatedly rejected the idea of diversity quotas that some gender equality activists argue are necessary to break deep-seated imbalances in politics and business. Ms. Takaichi has said she would seek to avoid appointing women “just because they’re women.”
Still, Ms. Takaichi has expressed support for expanding access to health care for women. And she has spoken candidly about her own experience with menopause, saying Japan should do more to support menopausal women.
Women in the L.D.P. have historically faced pressure to tack right to progress through the ranks. Now that Ms. Takaichi has finally made it to the top, after unsuccessful leadership bids in 2021 and 2024, she will have an opportunity to push the party to be more responsive to the concerns of women, lawmakers said.
“From now on, she will be tested on what she can do as an independent politician,” said Kiyomi Tsujimoto, a lawmaker with the rival Constitutional Democratic Party, who has known Ms. Takaichi since the 1980s.
Ms. Tsujimoto said it was unfair to expect Ms. Takaichi alone to help advance the cause of Japanese women. It requires the backing of men as well, she said.
“There is no point in questioning why she doesn’t carry out certain policies just because she is a woman,” she said. “The L.D.P. as a party should be held responsible.”
Kaori Sasaki, the founder of the Japan-based diversity consultancy Ewoman, said she disagreed with many of Ms. Takaichi’s policies, including her staunch opposition to separate surnames for married couples.
But Ms. Sasaki expressed hope that as prime minister, Ms. Takaichi would moderate her public messaging and re-examine her positions, particularly on the issue of separate surnames.
“I hope she moves society forward so that many women can participate in both politics and business without having to endure the same working styles and struggles that she herself has experienced,” Ms. Sasaki said.
Kiuko Notoya and Hisako Ueno contributed reporting.
Javier C. Hernández is the Tokyo bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of Japan.
River Akira Davis covers Japan for The Times, including its economy and businesses, and is based in Tokyo.
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