Sanae Takaichi has become Japan’s first woman prime minister after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its allies secured a commanding mandate in Sunday’s election. According to state broadcaster NHK, the LDP-led bloc won 352 of 465 seats in the House of Representatives, with the LDP alone taking 316—roughly 68%—an outcome widely described by local media as a historic landslide. International outlets, including BBC, framed the result as a watershed for Japanese politics.
Takaichi, who took the LDP leadership in October after the party’s 2024 setback, had vowed to step down if she failed to regain a majority; instead, voters handed her a supermajority not seen by a single party in the postwar era. The incoming premier now faces a demanding to-do list: easing cost-of-living pressures, re-energizing a stagnant economy, and quickening growth without derailing fiscal stability.
A protégé of Japan’s conservative wing and an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi has staked out positions against same-sex marriage and female imperial succession—stances that may ignite fresh debate even with a strong parliamentary cushion. For now, the decisive win gives her wide latitude to shape policy and appoint a cabinet as she launches the country’s next political chapter.