Sanae Takaichi becomes Japan’s first female prime minister, but her rise signals hard turn to right wing

Japan has shattered one glass ceiling, and reinforced another. Parliament on Tuesday elected Sanae Takaichi, a hardline conservative and protégé of the late Shinzo Abe, as the country’s first female prime minister.

Takaichi secured 237 votes in the 465-seat lower house after striking a last-minute deal with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party (Ishin). The coalition gives her just enough support to form a government, but not a stable one. Her bloc still falls two seats short of a majority, hinting at turbulence ahead.

The election ends three months of political drift since the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suffered a humiliating loss in July and outgoing leader Shigeru Ishiba resigned.

At 64, Takaichi breaks a symbolic barrier in a country where women remain largely absent from the top echelons of power. Yet, her politics are anything but progressive. She opposes same-sex marriage, separate surnames for married couples, and supports the male-only imperial succession, positions that have drawn fire from rights groups and younger voters.

The LDP’s alliance with Komeito, its centrist Buddhist-backed partner for 26 years, collapsed after Komeito cited corruption concerns and the LDP’s drift rightward. Desperate for numbers, Takaichi turned to Ishin’s Hirofumi Yoshimura, who agreed to a partnership but declined cabinet posts “until we’re confident in our cooperation.”

“Political stability is essential right now,” Takaichi said at the signing ceremony. “Without stability, we cannot push measures for a strong economy or diplomacy.”

Much like her mentor Abe, Takaichi champions aggressive fiscal stimulus to lift Japan’s sluggish economy. The so-called “Takaichi trade” has already pushed the Nikkei to record highs, but analysts warn that ballooning debt could strain Japan’s finances.

Japan faces a public increasingly frustrated with rising prices after decades of deflation, a shift that has boosted fringe populist movements and weakened the LDP’s traditional dominance.

Takaichi was swiftly confirmed by the upper house and will be sworn in Tuesday evening as Japan’s 104th prime minister. She now faces a punishing to-do list: a major policy address, a summit with US President Donald Trump, and regional talks that will test her diplomatic instincts.