On the 21st of October 2025, Japan saw the election of its first female Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Though this is certainly a historic moment for the country, Takaichi’s policies have been met with extensive debate in politics and online.
Takaichi’s path to election has seen setbacks, the most major having been the LDP’s break from its 26 year coalition with the Komeito party. Severe tension between Takaichi’s hard-line views on Japan’s wartime past and Komeito’s pacifist values had brewed for months beforehand, not helped by the recent slush fund scandal within the LDP. The relationship breakdown that followed nearly jeopardised the outcome of the election, casting unexpected doubt on Takaichi’s election at all. A last-minute coalition formed with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party (Ishin) was enough to save the LDP’s votes.
It is hoped that Takaichi’s leadership, as she has promised, will allow Japan to continue to thrive as a country. While some are cautious at her personal beliefs, others see her election as an optimistic chance for Japan and its economy.
This is the first of many challenges Takaichi will have to face in her leadership. On a foreign policy front, Japan’s relationship with the USA will likely remain crucial in defence against their nuclear neighbours. In President Trump’s most recent visit in October 2025, this relationship has been only affirmed, as Takaichi promises a ‘golden-age of the Japan-US alliance’. Economically, the partnership between the LDP and Ishin combines Takaichi’s focus on high spending with Ishin’s mission to increase government efficiency, suggested by economists to bring a more balanced economic approach. This will be particularly important given Japan’s rising inflation and declining real wages.
However, more than her foreign or economic policies, Takaichi has been most covered and most contested, especially in Western media, about her views on women and same-sex marriage. Despite being Japan’s first female Prime Minister and ‘Iron Lady’, she has advocated for women’s traditional place in the family home, such as refusing policies that would allow women to choose to keep their last name in marriage and succeed to Japan’s throne. Her admiration of Margaret Thatcher has featured heavily in British media in particular. She has also opposed same-sex marriage in spite of increasing acceptance in the country. This has left some disappointed in what they believe may have been a great opportunity for progressive policy.
It is hoped that Takaichi’s leadership, as she has promised, will allow Japan to continue to thrive as a country. While some are cautious at her personal beliefs, others see her election as an optimistic chance for Japan and its economy.
