TOKYO — Japan elected its first woman prime minister this week, selecting Sanae Takaichi to lead the country just days before U.S. President Donald Trump’s scheduled visit.
Takaichi, 64, won the premiership in a joint vote of Japan’s parliament on Tuesday, defeating former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda 237–149 in the lower house and 125–46 in the upper house. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader succeeds Shigeru Ishiba, who served one year.
In a victory speech, Takaichi pledged an all-out effort to tackle economic headwinds. “I myself will throw out the term ‘work-life balance,’” she said. “I will work and work and work and work and work.”
An outspoken conservative and protégé of the late Shinzo Abe, Takaichi campaigned on stabilizing prices and raising growth amid a rising cost of living that has dominated voter concerns. She has also moved quickly to name her cabinet, appointing two women, including Satsuki Katayama as Japan’s first female finance minister.
The milestone comes as Japan continues to lag its peers on gender parity. Despite being the world’s fourth-largest economy, the country ranked 118th out of 148 in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report. Critics argue Takaichi’s policy positions may limit broader progress for women: she favors male primogeniture for imperial succession, opposes same-sex marriage, and has resisted proposals to let married couples use separate surnames—even though she used her maiden name professionally during her first marriage.
“One would like to say this is a historic moment in Japan,” said Jeff Kingston, a professor of Asian studies and history at Temple University’s Japan campus. “But it’s really hard to make that case, given her rather poor track record on empowering women.”
Diplomacy will demand early attention. Trump is due in Tokyo Oct. 27 for a three-day visit bracketed by stops in Malaysia for the ASEAN summit and South Korea for a meeting with China’s Xi Jinping. The White House and Tokyo have recently sparred over potential U.S. tariff hikes, but Trump said Monday he expects to broker “a fantastic deal with China.”
Takaichi’s immediate test remains at home. With a fragile recovery and persistent price pressures, she has limited time to define her economic agenda and steady her party. As Kingston put it: “She doesn’t have a whole lot of time to get ready for a slew of diplomatic activity. But I think job one is the Japanese economy.”
