Sanae Takaichi, a veteran conservative lawmaker in Japan who cites Margaret Thatcher as an influence, won election as prime minister on Tuesday, becoming the first woman to do so in the nation’s history.
While she has broken 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 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.
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 worked for the local police department, and her father worked for a car parts maker. 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.
Earlier this month, she beat out four men to be elected president of the L.D.P. On Tuesday, she became prime minister after a vote during an extraordinary session of Parliament.
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 she won election as the L.D.P.’s leader, 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 it.
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 opposed changing a longstanding law that requires 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. Under her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, there were only two women in the 20-person cabinet. Women now 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 does she face?
Ms. Takaichi must revive the fortunes of the L.D.P., which has led government for almost all of the past 70 years, but suffered recent electoral losses that made it a minority in both houses of Parliament.
That also means that Ms. Takaichi needs support from other groups to push through her agenda.After Ms. Takaichi’s victory in the L.D.P.’s leadership election, the party lost its main coalition partner of the past 26 years, Komeito, a centrist party, which had expressed reservations about her right-wing views. To secure the votes needed to be elected prime minister, Ms. Takaichi formed an alliance with a center-right group instead: the Japan Innovation Party.
In office, Ms. Takaichi is expected to try 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 expected to visit Japan next week, during a trip to Asia. Japan and the United States are still working out details of a trade agreement.
Ms. Takaichi has 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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