Sanae Takaichi's tenure as prime minister of Japan began on 21 October 2025 when she was officially appointed prime minister by Emperor Naruhito in a ceremony at the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Takaichi faced a diplomatic crisis with China after a statement she made regarding Japan's involvement regarding a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan and subsequent threatening remarks by a Chinese diplomat. Takaichi's administration has consistently polled high in approval ratings. In 2026,she called a snap general election,which resulted in a historic landslide victory for the LDP,securing a two-thirds supermajority and the largest number of seats ever won in postwar Japanese electoral history.
Following Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's announcement of his resignation in September 2025, Takaichi announced her candidacy for LDP president in the resulting leadership election on 18 September 2025.[1] In early polling, Takaichi and agricultural minister Shinjirō Koizumi were identified as the frontrunners.[2] Ultimately, Takaichi won both rounds, defeating Koizumi with 185 votes to 156 votes in the runoff and becoming the first woman to hold the post of LDP president.[3]
Upon her election as party president, it was already speculated that a Takaichi government would accommodate an interest rate increase by the Bank of Japan early in her possible tenure as prime minister.[4] After her election, the Nikkei 225 share index surged past the 47,000 level for the first time, and the value of the yen fell.[4] The Nikkei rose over 4% to hit a record high and the index closed 4.75% higher at the end of the trading day,[5] while the yen fell 1.8% against the dollar.[6]
On 10 October, Komeito party leader Tetsuo Saito announced that his party would break with the LDP and leave the governing coalition, citing disagreements with Takaichi's leadership and the LDP's handling of the slush fund scandal.[7][8] This development signified the collapse of the 26-year-old LDP–Komeito coalition.[8] As a result, the parliamentary election to choose Japan's next prime minister was pushed back from 15 to 20 October.[7][9] On 15 October, Takaichi asked Hirofumi Yoshimura, the leader of the Japan Innovation Party, to enter into a coalition with the LDP.[10]
On 17 October, the National Diet voted to set 21 October as the session confirmation date.[11] On 19 October, the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party agreed to form a coalition. The leaders of both parties signed a coalition agreement the following day, clearing Takaichi's path to the premiership.[12][13] At the 21 October meeting of the National Diet, both houses nominated Takaichi to succeed Shigeru Ishiba as prime minister.[14] Takaichi avoided a runoff in the lower house, garnering 237 votes against Constitutional Democratic Party leader Yoshihiko Noda's 149.[15] She was officially appointed prime minister by Emperor Naruhito in a ceremony at the Tokyo Imperial Palace later that day.[16] She became both the first woman[17] and the first person from Nara Prefecture to hold the post.[18]
Takaichi is elected Prime Minister by the Diet, 21 October 2025
After becoming prime minister on 21 October, Takaichi formed her cabinet. While she had said that she wanted her cabinet to include as many women as those in the Nordic countries,[19][20] only two women actually joined the cabinet: Satsuki Katayama as Japan's first female finance minister,[21] and Kimi Onoda as economic security minister.[19] In her inaugural press conference, Takaichi said that she "prioritised equality of opportunity" above all else, and had selected ministers based on their qualifications, not gender.[22][23]
The cabinet was viewed as favoring party unity, with Takaichi's rivals receiving key positions: Toshimitsu Motegi as foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi as internal affairs minister and Shinjiro Koizumi as defense minister. Ishiba's confidant Ryosei Akazawa was promoted to minister of economy, trade and industry, showing a degree of continuity.[24][25] Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, however, is ideologically aligned with Takaichi, a break from recent prime ministers.[26]
During the first press conference of her premiership on 21 October 2025, Takaichi outlined her priorities such as tackling rising inflation and said that she would work to implement suspension of the provisional gasoline tax rate. Takaichi also announced her other plans such as the proposal for creating a back-up capital region, overhauling Japan's social security system, revising the constitution, and creating a majority government to bring stability, while listening to opposition parties regarding national policies and raising the national tax-free income threshold, which were also in line with her agreement with the Japan Innovation Party. Takaichi stated that crisis management was part of the core agenda of her premiership and laid out her plans to increase the collaboration of the public and private sectors in investing in economic, energy, and food security.[27]
According to local reports, Takaichi planned a ¥13.9 trillion ($92.19 billion) economic stimulus package as part of her first economic initiative policies aimed at "responsible proactive fiscal policy", with three main pillars: measures to counter inflation, investment in growth industries, and national security. Other proposals included the expansion of local government grants for small and medium-sized businesses and additional investments in technology such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors.[28]
Prime Minister Takaichi speaks in front of reporters during her first press conference as prime minister at the Prime Minister's Residence on 21 October 2025.
On 24 October 2025, during her first policy speech at the National Diet, Takaichi repeated her priorities in tackling inflation, fiscal spending, the creation of an economic growth panel, and her previous proposal on scrapping the provisional tax on gasoline.[29] Takaichi stated that she would bring forward Japan's plans to raise annual military spending to 2% of GDP, announcing a new target of March 2026, rather than the previous target of 2027, in an aim to modernize and upgrade the capabilities of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, while laying out a proposal to revise Japan's three national security documents due to the evolving threats in the region, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Gaza war, the Red Sea crisis, and increasing military actions by North Korea, Russia, and China. Takaichi mentioned the need to continue Japan's alliance with the United States, while enhancing Japan's diplomacy to the international community.[30]
Takaichi renewed her two predecessors' efforts to make Japan a leading asset management center and for their plan of setting up an agency for disaster prevention.[31] Takaichi emphasized the need for immigrant labor, saying that foreign workers were still needed to supplement Japan's declining population. She highlighted the need to balance labor market needs and the increasing immigrant population, noting that Japan's acceptance of migrants was premised on their compliance with Japan's rules and laws, and vowed to strengthen regulations to enforce compliance.[31]
On 23 January 2026, Takaichi dissolved the House of Representatives, allowing a general election to be held on 8 February.[32] The election resulted in a historic landslide victory for the LDP, with the party winning an outright two-thirds supermajority and regaining its majority status in the chamber. The LDP's total of at least 316 seats is the most ever won by a party in the Diet's Lower House in Japanese electoral history. Analysts credited the party's victory to Takaichi's high personal popularity at the time of the election.[33][34] She was especially popular among young voters, with one poll finding that 84 percent of respondents in their 20s and 78 percent of those in their 30s backed the prime minister and her cabinet (compared with 67 percent of voters overall).[35][36]
Public opinion
In opinion polls conducted during late October–early November 2025, Takaichi's government received the approval of between 65% and 83% of respondents, among the highest such ratings of any government in twenty years.[37][38]
Takaichi made her diplomatic debut at the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she made efforts to strengthen cooperation on the maritime, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity sectors. She also held bilateral meetings with Philippine president Bongbong Marcos, Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese.[39][40][41][42] During the ASEAN meeting, Takaichi also attended the ASEAN+3 Summit, the ASEAN–Japan Summit, the 20th East Asia Summit, and the Second ASEAN Global Dialogue. Takaichi skipped the remaining events of the summit, flying back to Tokyo to meet with U.S. president Donald Trump the next day.[43]
Takaichi met with Trump on 28 October 2025 at the Akasaka Palace. The two leaders signed agreements on trade, minerals, nuclear technology and rare earths. Takaichi also expressed her intent to strengthen the US–Japan alliance. After their meeting, Takaichi gave Trump a putter formerly owned by former prime minister Shinzo Abe, a golf ball signed by Japanese professional golfer Hideki Matsuyama, and a gold-leaf golf ball.[44][45] During their visit at the US Yokosuka Naval Base, aboard the USS George Washington (CVN-73), Takaichi vowed to bring the US–Japan alliance into a "golden age", amid a "severe security environment".[46][47][48] According to Trump's press secretary, she also told Trump privately she would recommend him for the Nobel Peace Prize.[49]
Chinese leader Xi Jinping made an unusual move by not sending a congratulatory telegram on the day Takaichi assumed the post of prime minister, but a Japan-China summit meeting between Xi and Takaichi was held on 31 October. There, the two sides agreed to promote a "mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests."[50] However, since Prime Minister Takaichi held talks with Taiwan's former Vice Premier Lin Hsin-i on 1 November, China lodged a protest with Japan, and Japan counter-argued, leading to the deterioration of the relationship.[51]
During deliberations in the House of Representatives' budget committee on 7 November, Takaichi said that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute an "existential crisis situation" for Japan, allowing the country to take military action in self-defence.[52][53] In response to the comments, the Chinese consul-general in Osaka, Xue Jian, wrote on X on that "we have no choice but to cut off that dirty neck that has lunged at us without a moment's hesitation. Are you ready?"[52][a] Although the post was later deleted after protest by the Japanese government, it led to a diplomatic row between Japan and China.[55][56] In addition to cross-party calls in Japan for his expulsion, Xue's comment triggered criticism from the Taiwanese government and the US ambassador to Japan,[57][58] while Chinese officials condemned Takaichi's remarks.[59] Japan and China issued mutual travel advisories and summoned the other country's ambassador.[59][60] China subsequently dispatched China Coast Guard vessels and military drones to patrol through the Senkaku Islands.[61]
Notes
↑Original Japanese text:[54]勝手に突っ込んできたその汚い首は一瞬のちゅうちょもなく斬ってやるしかない。覚悟ができているのか
↑"高市早苗・自民党総裁、第104代首相に選出 憲政史上初の女性宰相"[LDP President Sanae Takaichi is 104th Prime Minister and the First Woman to Hold the Role since the Introduction of Constitutional Government]. BBC News (in Japanese). 21 October 2025. Archived from the original on 22 October 2025. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
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