Sanae Takaichi
Metal drummer wants to be Japan's Iron Lady
Sanae Takaichi
Updated 09.42 | Published 08.12
The role model is Britain's "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher.
With a background as a hard-hitting drummer in a heavy metal band, Sanae Takaichi will now be Japan's first female prime minister.
She has promised to "work like a horse" to get Japan's economic wheels moving, and the financial market seems to believe her.
64-year-old Sanae Takaichi, a former minister for economic security, was elected in early October as the new leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). On Tuesday, she was approved by parliament, becoming Japan's fifth prime minister in as many years and the first woman in the post.
Triggered stock market surge
When the news came that Takaichi had been elected LDP leader and thus heir to the prime minister's post, the Japanese stock market took a leap of joy on hopes that she, like her mentor and predecessor Shinzo Abe and his "Abenomics", would introduce fiscal stimulus measures and a more expansionary monetary policy.
- These are the things that the market sees as potentially positive opportunities for the Japanese economy with her at the helm, says Patrik Ström, researcher and director of the Japan Institute at the Stockholm School of Economics.
He also notes that it is not in terms of the economy that Takaichi has adopted Thatcher's policies.
-Margaret Thatcher was not exactly a person with spendthrift pants on.
Conservative stance
The similarities are rather found in the new Prime Minister's conservative stance on many other issues. For example, she is against same-sex marriage, wants to see tougher measures when it comes to immigration and is an advocate of male succession in the imperial family.
- If you talk to younger Japanese women, she may not be their favorite. One example of why is that she has spoken out and said that she thinks women should take their husband's surname when they get married. And many in the younger generation think that is very conservative.
Nordic ambitions
Although young women in Japan are not overly hopeful about what Sanae Takaichi will be able to achieve when it comes to increasing gender equality in the country, Patrik Ström believes that her appointment will make a difference.
– I think the signal value of Japan getting a female prime minister will be important. In the government of the previous Shigeru Ishiba, there were two women and Takaichi has talked about having “Nordic ambitions” for her government. So it will be exciting to see how she will materialize that, says Patrik Ström.
FACTS
Sanae Takaichi
Sanae Takaichi was born in 1961 in Nara in western Japan.
In her youth, she played drums in a heavy metal band and was known for always carrying several drumsticks with her because she hit hard and the sticks often broke.
She is also said to have had a great interest in motors and according to the BBC, one of her previous cars, a Toyota Supra, is on display at a museum in her hometown of Nara.
Before entering politics, she worked for a short time as a television presenter.
She stood in her first parliamentary election in 1992 as an independent candidate but lost.
A year later, she was elected and joined the LDP in 1996.
Takaichi has held senior government posts, including as Minister of Economic Security and as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications.
In 2021, she ran for the LDP leadership for the first time but lost to Fumio Kishida. She tried again in 2024 but lost to Shigeru Ishiba.
This year, for the third time in a row, she was finally elected party leader and was approved as the new prime minister by parliament on October 21.
“My goal is to become the Iron Lady,” she told a group of schoolchildren during her latest campaign.
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