Meet Sanae Takaichi: The Heavy Metal Drummer and Thatcher-Inspired Leader Eyeing Japan's Premiership

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Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected and staunchly conservative head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is expected to become Japan’s first woman prime minister.

The 64-year-old, who won the party’s leadership election Saturday, has positioned herself as a hardline leader focused on national defence and economic security.

She saw off competition from generational-change candidate Shinjiro Koizumi, the 44-year-old surfing son of a former premier, and the experienced Yoshimasa Hayashi.

Once confirmed by parliament — seen as highly likely — Takaichi will become the country’s first woman head of government and Japan’s fifth leader in as many years.

Voters have been deserting the long-dominant LDP in droves because of inflation and a recent slush fund scandal. Source: EPA / Franck Robichon

Takaichi has repeatedly referred to Thatcher as a source of inspiration, citing her strong character and convictions coupled with her “womanly warmth”.

She said she met the conservative Thatcher, a divisive figure in UK politics known as “the Iron Lady”, at a symposium shortly before Thatcher’s death in 2013.

Takaichi’s politics

In an effort to claw voters back, Takaichi has taken a tough stance on immigration and foreign tourists — both of which emerged as key issues in the LDP leadership race.

Once a drummer in a college heavy metal band, she has been a vocal critic of China and its military build-up in the Asia-Pacific.

Takaichi enjoys passionate support in the conservative wing of the LDP and among fellow followers of assassinated ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe.

She supports aggressive monetary easing and big fiscal spending, echoing her political mentor’s “Abenomics” policies, which, if implemented again, could rattle markets.

She has also voiced her strong concerns about crime and the economic influence of foreigners in Japan, calling for stricter rules — a move analysts say is an attempt to regain voters who fled from the LDP to a new nationalist party with anti-immigration messages.

On tariffs, she told a panel discussion this month that she won’t shy away from pushing for renegotiations with the United States if the deal is implemented in a way deemed harmful or unfair to Japan.

Takaichi vows ‘Nordic levels’ of women in parliament

Some of her supporters viewed her selection as a watershed in Japan’s male-dominated politics. Takaichi has made a bold pledge to lift the number of women in cabinet to a par with Nordic countries.

But although her election “would be a step forward for women’s participation in politics”, according to Sadafumi Kawato, professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo, she’s shown little inclination to fight against patriarchal norms.

Takaichi’s views on gender place her on the right of an already conservative LDP.

She opposes revising a 19th-century law requiring married couples to share the same surname, a rule that overwhelmingly results in women taking their husband’s name.

Japan ranked 118 out of 148 in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Gender Gap Report chiefly because of the under-representation of women in government, while Iceland, Finland and Norway occupied the top three places.

— With additional reporting by the Reuters news agency