TOKYO — Lawmakers in Japan elected hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi as prime minister on Tuesday, making her the first woman in modern times to lead the key U.S. ally.
Takaichi, 64, the new leader of the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was elected by lawmakers in the lower house of parliament by a vote of 237-149 over her closest rival, Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the liberal opposition Constitutional Democratic Party. She was also elected by upper house lawmakers in a second vote of 125-46 after falling one vote shy of a majority in the first round.
Though her election is a milestone in a country where women are severely underrepresented in government, Takaichi enters office with a fragile coalition and facing a number of pressing challenges, including a visit next week by President Donald Trump.
Takaichi, who says her hero is former British conservative leader Margaret Thatcher, has appointed two other women to her cabinet, the same as the previous government. They include Satsuki Katayama, Japan’s first female finance minister.
But Takaichi’s victory is not necessarily a victory for women in general, critics say, especially after she secured it by forming an alliance with an Osaka-based party that will pull her coalition even further to the right.
“One would like to say this is a historic moment in Japan,” Jeff Kingston, a professor of Asian studies and history at Temple University’s Japan campus, told NBC News. “But it’s really hard to make that case, given her rather poor track record on empowering women.”
Takaichi opposes same-sex marriage and favors keeping succession to men only in Japan’s shrinking imperial family. She also opposes changing the rules to make it easier for married women to keep their maiden names in Japan, where married couples are required to have the same surname.
Progress toward gender equality has been slow in Japan, where women are far outnumbered at the highest levels of business and government and bear a disproportionate responsibility for child care and household chores.
Japan, the world’s fourth-largest economy, ranked 118th out of 148 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report. It noted that women make up less than 16% of Japanese lawmakers in the lower house of parliament and 10% of government ministers.
After Takaichi was elected leader of the LDP earlier this month, Japanese feminist author Chizuko Ueno said that the prospect of Japan getting its first female prime minister “doesn’t make me happy.”
Takaichi “sees herself as the Japanese version of Thatcher,” Ueno, 77, said in a post on X. “British feminists, who inherited Thatcher, have no illusions about women in leadership positions.”
She noted Takaichi’s opposition to allowing separate surnames for married couples even as she has kept her own maiden name. Though Takaichi changed her legal name in 2004 when she first married Taku Yamamoto, she continued to use her maiden name professionally until they divorced in 2017, in line with legislation she had proposed.
When they remarried in 2021, Yamamoto, a former LDP lawmaker, changed his legal surname to Takaichi.
Takaichi — who in her youth rode motorcycles and played the drums in a heavy metal band — has pushed for greater support for women’s health. She has talked about her personal struggles with symptoms of menopause and the importance of raising awareness “so that men can properly understand when women are struggling, whether at school or in the workplace.”
But her campaign was focused mainly on the economy and national defense.
A protege of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi advocates a stronger military, tougher immigration policies and the revision of Japan’s pacifist constitution. She is a veteran politician who has served as minister of economic security, internal affairs and gender equality.
Earlier this month Takaichi was elected leader of the LDP, which has governed Japan almost uninterrupted since World War II, after running unsuccessfully in 2021 and 2024. In her victory speech, she underlined her commitment to the job.
“I myself will throw out the term ‘work-life balance,’” Takaichi said. “I will work and work and work and work and work.”
Her ascension to prime minister was thrown into doubt, however, after a crucial partner, the centrist party Komeito, left the LDP coalition.
To ensure her victory, the LDP signed a deal on Monday with the Japan Innovation Party, or Ishin, a far-right party based in Osaka.
Even with the alliance, Takaichi faces an uphill battle in parliament, where she falls short of a majority in both houses after the LDP suffered major losses in recent elections amid voter anger over party corruption scandals and the rising cost of living. Her premiership could thus end up being short-lived — much like that of her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, who was in office for a year.
“She emerges from this a diminished leader from the get-go,” said Kingston, the professor.
Takaichi also faces an early test next week with the arrival of Trump, who is making his first trip to Asia since returning to office. He is expected to visit Malaysia and Japan before continuing on to South Korea, which is hosting a major summit of Asia-Pacific economies.
“She doesn’t have a whole lot of time to get ready for a slew of diplomatic activity,” Kingston said. “But I think job one is the Japanese economy.”
Arata Yamamoto reported from Tokyo, and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.
