Sanae Takaichi won’t have much time to savor her election as Japan’s first female prime minister.
In just a few days, President Donald Trump is set to visit Tokyo on a swing through Asia.
Takaichi might be just the right leader for Japan for that all-important first meeting with the US commander-in-chief.
Like Trump, Takaichi admires tough nationalist leaders — in her case, the UK’s Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher — and wants to coordinate with the US to counter China’s efforts to reshape the global order. She’s committed to accelerating moves to build up Japan’s military, which may help assuage Trump as he looks to Asian allies to rely less on American protection.
They’ll likely also bond over memories of Shinzo Abe, the assassinated former Japanese prime minister who struck up a close relationship with Trump and mentored Takaichi as a rising political star.
Takaichi’s ascent marks a shift back to the right in Japanese politics after her Liberal Democratic Party suffered two successive election losses under the leadership of centrist Shigeru Ishiba.
The rise of smaller right-wing populist parties prompted the LDP to respond in kind. Takaichi’s platform includes tighter controls on foreign investment and the growing foreign population — demands of those same populist parties.
She’s triggered investor expectations of aggressive fiscal pump-priming in the vein of “Abenomics,” but her first order of economic business is to tackle accelerating inflation, voters’ top concern.
In a nation known for churning through premiers, her political longevity will depend on her ability to manage a new minority coalition with the reformist Japan Innovation Party, which is pushing for cuts in taxes and the number of lawmakers.
Takaichi has said she’ll work “like a horse” to bring prosperity and resilience to Japan as Asia’s Thatcher. It’s a bold goal in a culture that remains dominated by men. — Alastair Gale