Nationalist Sanae Takaichi won the leadership of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Monday, securing her path to become the country’s first female prime minister.
Takaichi defeated her more moderate rival, Shinjiro Koizumi, in a run-off election, winning 185 votes to Koizumi’s 156. She is now set to replace outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, pending a parliamentary vote and formal appointment.
The LDP remains the largest party in parliament. However, following the last election, the coalition it leads no longer holds a majority in either house, meaning Takaichi will need support from opposition lawmakers to govern effectively.
Takaichi, 64, was the only woman among the five LDP candidates. She prevailed over the 44-year-old Koizumi, who had been seeking to become the country’s youngest modern leader, after no candidate won an outright majority in the first round of voting. The parliamentary vote to select the next prime minister is expected to be held on 15 October.
A party in crisis
Takaichi, a former interior minister with an expansionist economic agenda, inherits a party in crisis. The LDP has seen its support, particularly among young people, eroded by other parties, including the fiscally expansionist Democratic Party for the People and the anti-immigration Sanseito party.
“I have recently heard harsh voices from all over the country saying that we no longer know what the LDP stands for,” Takaichi said in her speech before the second round of voting. “This sense of urgency has driven me. I wanted to turn people’s anxiety about their daily lives and their future into hope.”
Takaichi, who counts Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, as a role model, presented a clearer vision for change than Koizumi. A proponent of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” strategy of stimulating the economy through bold spending and loose monetary policy, she has previously criticised the Bank of Japan’s interest rate hikes. This policy shift could raise concerns among investors about Japan’s large public debt burden.
She has also raised the possibility of renegotiating an investment deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, under which he lowered punitive tariffs in exchange for investments backed by Japanese taxpayers.
Her nationalist stances, such as regular visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which some of Japan’s Asian neighbours view as a symbol of its past militarism, could anger South Korea and China. She also supports revising Japan’s post-war pacifist constitution and this year proposed that Japan form a “quasi-security alliance” with Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China claims as its own.
If chosen as prime minister, Takaichi said she would travel abroad more regularly than her predecessor to spread the message that “Japan is back!”
Her victory comes at a time of rising anti-foreigner sentiment and the growing influence of nationalist politicians in Japan, as the country faces a severe demographic crisis that threatens its economic and social future, according to the Associated Press.
The emerging nationalist Sanseito party, led by Sohei Kamiya, has gained traction with its “Japan First” platform, which focuses on opposing globalisation, immigration, and liberalism. According to the AP, anti-immigration policies are finding increasing acceptance among Japanese people who are dealing with low wages, rising prices, and a bleak outlook.
