Japan made history when its governing party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) elected on 4 October 2025 a hard-line ultra-conservative and China hawk, Sanae Takaichi, the first female as the top leader of the embattled governing party, paving the way for her to become prime minister of the coalition government.
Takaichi’s victory in the leadership race has generated international excitement and led to a flurry of mis- and disinformation about her views and policies. She is being portrayed as a radical right-winger and a strong advocate of strong military and constitutional revision, which have created plenty of anxiety in China and South Korea. Japan’s pacifist constitution, in particular Article 9, that prevents Japan to maintain a strong military raised concerns about Japan’s security as security environment in Japan’s neighbourhood has deteriorated considerably, exposing Japan’s vulnerability to external threats. Views on having a strong military in Japan are no longer radical and there is greater acceptability of such a view.
The concern that Takaichi shall take Japan into a militaristic path is completely misplaced. The former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first who raised the issue of constitutional reform but found the path arduous. The process of amending Article 9 of the constitution is too complicated. The next best thing was to dilute the spirit of the Article 9 by adopting measures for collective self-defence, thereby fulfilling the objective half-way. So, to fear that Takeichi shall go further to change Japan’s security posture dramatically is like building castle in the air. The fear stems from the fact that she was a backer of Abe and that she shall pursue Abe’s path more vigorously.
There are some concerns about Takaichi’s leadership as she holds extreme views on gender equality, which is seen as a setback. On the contrary, she could be an inspiration for other women to follow in her footsteps. Her goal is to have more women in her Cabinet on par with Nordic countries. The obstacle on her way would, however, be that there are not many female lawmakers who can figure in Takaichi’s calculation.
It needs to be remembered that when Abe returned as the LDP leader in 2012, similar concerns were raised as in the case of Takaichi that Abe was a radical conservative who was dangerously nationalistic. Doomsayers predicted that Abe would seek the return of Japanese militarism and his economic spending would collapse the economy. Nothing of the sort happened. Therefore, there is not much to worry about Takaichi’s political credentials.
Normally, the election of a new leader in Japan does not create much international excitement. But being the first female to be the prime minister, her credentials have come under scrutiny. The news of her formally becoming the Prime Minister on 15 October jolted the markets and energised both sides of the political spectrum. To paint Takaichi as a conservative and ultranationalist, a radical or a female Donald Trump would smack ignorance and misunderstanding of Japanese politics.
The fact that Takaichi immensely benefitted from the policies pursued by Abe, her mentor who remained in power for eight long years, cannot be disputed. Abe accomplished things like greatly expanding women’s roles in the workplace, something Takaichi is now benefiting from. He visits to the contentious Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates Japan’s war dead, including Class A war criminals of World War II, are being quoted, to which China and South Korea make noise. On the gender issue, she has no love for ideas such as separate names for married couples. She opposes same-sex marriage, though she supports same-sex partnership.
Takaichi is a workaholic. During her acceptance speech, she said she would “work, work, work, work, work” for the good of the country and encouraged lawmakers to do the same. In contrast to her predecessor Shigeru Ishiba who spoke about toughness of the job, Takaichi rubbishes the phrase “work-life balance”. Japanese salary men are notorious to be known as workaholics. There are cases of Karoshi, death from overwork, which led to demand by activists to reduce work hours. The activists slammed Takaichi for her views and recklessness. The point overlooked however was that Takaichi was speaking with the LDP lawmakers, not airing her views to the public. After all, politicians are expected to work more for the welfare of the people. Takaichi was clearly misunderstood on this point.
There are talks that Takaichi will be Abenomics 2.0, with a huge surge of fiscal spending and the Bank of Japan following. Though in the past she had been an advocate for free-spending policies, she would be constrained to fore through such radical plans as the coalition lacks a majority in both houses of the Diet. Takaichi should feel lucky to have calmer heads such as 85-year-old Taro Aso, whose advice and guidance would be of immense value to Takaichi.
Takaichi already has entrusted members of the faction led by Aso with key positions, while excluding her faction rival farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his allies close to former Prime Ministers Yoshihide Suga, Fumio Kishida and Shigeru Ishiba. Takaichi replaced Suga with Aso as the party’s vice president, the position he held under former Prime Minister Kishida. 0Takaichi named the party’s former general council affairs chair Shunichi Suzuki as secretary-general, the party’s No. 2. The eldest son of former Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki and Aso’s brother-in-law, the 72-year-old Suzuki will be in charge of the LDP’s overall operations.
While Takaichi has already frozen the party’s top four posts, she could possibly face some stumbling block from her coalition partner, the Komeito. The future of the coalition government looks uncertain as the junior and long-time partner Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito openly questioned Takaichi’s suitability as the leader of the coalition. Komeito’s concerns are over Takaichi’s stance on political funding scandals, historical issues and plans to expand their alliance. Her positions are viewed by some as a threat to Komeito’s influence and core values. Saito is categorical that without resolving the concerns of Komeito, there can be no coalition government.
The key issues Saito highlighted include the LDP’s handling of factional slush fund scandals and lack of transparency surrounding corporate and organisational donations. Saito is also uncomfortable with Takaichi’s hard-line stance on immigration policy and her regular visits to Yasukuni Shrine. There are risks on Takaichi’s coalition government when policies and principles among coalition partners do not align. Saito’s feelings reflect growing discontent within Soka Gakkai, the powerful Buddhist organisation that serves as Komito’s support base, something akin to the RSS’s base on the BJP government in India.
Takaichi needs to worry that there are voices within the Soka Gakkai calling for a break from the coalition. Some members feel that he LDP leadership does not care about Komeito’s concerns. In particular, Soka Gokkai is sensitive to the LDP’s money scandals and blames the LDP for its historic defeat in the Upper House election in securing its lowest number of seats since its 1998 reformation.
Komeito leadership is concerned about the party’s survival as it fears that its supporters will abandon the party if the party does not get its due recognition in the government. Takaichi does not take Komeito’s concern seriously, much to the annoyance of Komeito leadership. She is serious to give senior roles to Koichi Hagiuda and other key figures tied to the controversy.
Takaichi’s willingness to expand the coalition has also raised alarms that a broader alliance could dilute Komeito’s influence within the government. That is another bother for Komeito leadership. Komeito has partnered with the LDP since 1999, with its centre-left stance serving as a counterbalance to the LDP’s more conservative posture. True, Komeito holds far fewer seats in the Diet. The LDP lawmakers often benefit from the coalition partner’s backing in constituencies where Komeito does not field candidates—an arrangement that ensures the two parties never compete directly. Regrettably, personal tie between Takaichi and Saito is weak and lacks understanding.
Even during Abe’s tenure the conservative element was raised as a possible roadblock but Abe was more accommodative. That time, Komeito acted as a moderating force. But under Takaichi, the Komeito leadership is less comfortable to have a congenial governance partnership. So, the challenges before Takaichi are huge. Political stability in Japan would depend on how Takaichi addresses to such challenges.
AloJapan.com