Japan's first female PM, but Takaichi is not a feminist

Sanae Takaichi, the newly-elected leader of Japan's ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), attends a press conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on October 4, 2025. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / POOL / AFP)

Sanae Takaichi is poised to become Japan's first female prime minister, but many of her positions are socially conservative in an often still deeply patriarchal nation.

Takaichi, whose hero is Margaret Thatcher, became head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Saturday and will likely take office later this month.