Takaichi was born on 7 March 1961 inYamatokōriyama,Nara Prefecture, where she was raised. She was from a dual-income, middle class household. Her father, Daikyū Takaichi (1934–2013),[5] worked for an automotive firm affiliated withToyota and her mother, Kazuko Takaichi (1932–2018),[6] served in theNara Prefectural Police [ja].[7][8] Takaichi graduated fromNara Prefectural Unebi High School [ja]. Despite qualifying to matriculate atKeio andWaseda universities inTokyo,[9] she did not attend as her parents refused to covertuition fees if she left home or chose a private university because she was a woman.[10][9] Instead, Takaichi commuted six hours from her family home to attendKobe University, paying her way with part-time work.[11] During her university years she joined a band, playing the drums.[11] She graduated from Kobe with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1984, then enrolled in theMatsushita Institute of Government and Management.[12][13]
With sponsorship from the Matsushita Institute, she moved to the United States in 1987 to work as acongressional fellow forDemocratic congresswomanPat Schroeder.[8][14][15] Upon her return to Japan in 1989, she worked as a legislative analyst with knowledge of American politics, and wrote books based on her experience. She then became a presenter forTV Asahi in March 1989, co-hosting the station'sKodawari TV Pre-Stage program withRenhō. In November 1990, Takaichi was employed as a presenter forFuji Television, later serving as anchor of the morning information programAsa Da! Dō Gaku [ja].[16][17]
Political career
Political beginnings
Takaichi first attempted to run for the Nara Prefecture Electoral District of theHouse of Councillors during the1992 House of Councillors elections. She eventually ran as anindependent candidate and competed with Mitsuo Hattori for the post, after Mitsuo's father, Yasuji Hattori, decided not to run for the post. Of the 313 eligible voters, Takaichi lost to Hattori as Hattori received a total of 162 votes while Takaichi received a total of 137 votes and 1 invalid vote. Hattori was later proclaimed as the winner of the election.[14]
Early political career (1993–2006)
Takaichi in 1998
Takaichi was first elected to the Japanese parliament's lower house, theHouse of Representatives, in the1993 Japanese general election as an independent.[18] The following year she joined the minor "Liberals" party led byKoji Kakizawa, which soon merged into theNew Frontier Party.[19] In 1996, Takaichi ran as a sanctioned candidate from theNew Frontier Party and was re-elected to theHouse of Representatives; however, the New Frontier Party lost nationally. On 5 November, she responded to recruitment from theSecretary-General of the LDPKoichi Kato and then joined the LDP. Her act of switching parties, two months after winning the election with anti-LDP votes, resulted in heavy criticism from New Frontier Party members.[20]
In the2003 Japanese general election, she was defeated in theNara 1st district byDemocratic Party lawmakerSumio Mabuchi. She moved to the nearby city ofIkoma and won a seat representing theNara 2nd district in the2005 Japanese general election.[22] In 2004, while she was out of the Diet, she took an economics faculty position atKinki University.[18] Takaichi headed an LDP in-party group that opposed legislation that would allow spouses to have separate surnames after marriage (夫婦別姓,fūfu bessei), arguing that it would undermine Japan's traditional family system. Besides, as communications chief she "stirred controversy when she suggested TV broadcasters could have their license revoked if they air programs the government considers politically biased, a remark widely slammed as tantamount to the repression of free speech".[23]
After the LDP's victory in the2012 Japanese general election, Takaichi was appointed to head the party's Policy Research Council (自由民主党政務調査会長). In January 2013, she recommended that Abe issue an "Abe Statement" to replace theMurayama Statement that apologized for "tremendous damage and suffering" brought byJapan's "colonial rule and aggression".[26] In 2015, the day before the 70th anniversary of thesurrender of Japan, Abe gave the official Cabinet statement, declaring that previous apologies including Murayama's will "remain unshakeable" but arguing against current or future apologies.[27] The statement was criticized bystate media in China[28] and North Korea,[29] andYonhap News Agency in South Korea.[28]
Takaichi was selected asMinister of Internal Affairs and Communications to replaceYoshitaka Shindō on 3 September 2014. After she was named as a cabinet minister, a photograph was published of her together with Kazunari Yamada, the leader of theNational Socialist Japanese Workers' Party – a smallneo-Nazi party in Japan. She denied any link with Yamada and said she would not have accepted the picture had she known Yamada's background.[30] She was also shown promoting a controversial book praisingAdolf Hitler's electoral talents in 1994.[31]
Takaichi was among the three members of the cabinet to visit the controversialYasukuni Shrine in 2014,[32] became the first sitting cabinet member to attend the shrine's autumn festival in 2016,[33] and was one of four cabinet ministers who visited Yasukuni on the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in August 2020.[34] In theDecember 2014 general election, she won an overwhelming 96,000-vote majority in her district, defeating the runner-up by 58,000 votes.[35]
In February 2016, Takaichi commented that the government could suspend the operations of broadcasters that aired politically biased content.[36] TheU.S. State Department later described this as "[giving] rise to concerns about increasing government pressure against critical and independent media."[37] An electoral redistricting in 2017, which Takaichi oversaw as internal affairs minister, eliminated one of Nara Prefecture's districts and resulted in Takaichi again potentially facing off with her former rivalSumio Mabuchi.[22] Takaichi was replaced bySeiko Noda on 3 August 2017, but returned to the Internal Affairs and Communications post on 11 September 2019, replacingMasatoshi Ishida. Among other initiatives, she put pressure onNHK to cut itslicence fee and reform its governance,[38] and oversaw the distribution of cash handouts during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[39]
Kishida government (2022–2024)
Takaichi served as Minister of State for Economic Security in Kishida's government from August 2022.[40] She was in charge of preparing a bill to implement asecurity clearance system for classified information relating to economic security. The lack of such a system had prevented Japan from joining theFive Eyes.[41] The bill was made law by the Diet in May 2024.[42]
Hiroyuki Konishi, aConstitutional Democratic Party of Japan-affiliatedHouse of Councillors member, said on 2 March 2023 that he obtained a government document indicating that the formerAbe government may have intended to interfere with thefreedom of broadcasting by putting pressure on broadcasters that were critical of the LDP.[43] Takaichi wasMinister of Internal Affairs and Communications at the time the document was said to have been created. When pressed during a committee session the following day, Takaichi said that the document was "fabricated" and vowed to resign from parliament if the document were proven genuine.[43] Several days later, on 7 March 2023, the Internal Affairs ministry confirmed that the document was created by ministerial officials, and opposition Diet members called on Takaichi to resign.[44] Following the announcement, Takaichi held to her position that the remarks attributed to her within the document were fabricated, adding that Konishi should bear the burden of proving the document's authenticity.[44]
In August 2023, Takaichi expressed concern that plans to sell the government's stake inNippon Telegraph and Telephone could make Japan's telecommunications infrastructure vulnerable to China.[45]
In August 2021, Takaichi expressed her willingness to challenge then-Prime MinisterYoshihide Suga for the presidency of the LDP in the scheduled election on 29 September.[46] On 3 September, Suga announced that he would not seek re-election; Takaichi officially announced her bid on 8 September with the support of former Prime Minister Abe.[47] Takaichi was eliminated in the first round of voting, and Fumio Kishida was elected.[48]
In August 2024, former Prime MinisterFumio Kishida announced that he would not seek re-election on his post as the President of the LDP. On 9 September, Takaichi announcedher second bid to become LDP leader. Among the nine contenders, Takaichi emerged as a frontrunner alongsideShigeru Ishiba andShinjiro Koizumi. Ultimately, she came first in the first round of voting with 181 votes, but was defeated by Ishiba in the runoff election with 215 votes to Takaichi's 194 votes.[49]
Takaichi giving a speech for LDP presidential election in Nagoya, September 2025
Following Prime MinisterShigeru Ishiba's announcement his resignation in September 2025, Takaichi announced her candidacy for LDP president in theresulting leadership election on 18 September 2025.[50] In early polling, Takaichi and agricultural ministerShinjirō Koizumi were identified as the frontrunners.[51] 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.[52]
LDP presidency
Upon her election as party president, it was already speculated that a Takaichi government would accommodate an interest rate increase by theBank of Japan early in her possible tenure as prime minister.[53] After her election, theNikkei 225 share gauge surged past the 47,000 level for the first time and the yen slid in terms of its value.[53] The Nikkei rose over 4% to hit a record high and the index closed 4.75% higher to end the trading day,[54] while the value of the yen lost 1.8% against the dollar.[55]
Komeito party leaderTetsuo Saito announced on 10 October 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 theslush fund scandal.[56][57] This development signified the collapse of the 26-year-old LDP–Komeito coalition;[57] as a result, the parliamentary election to choose Japan's next prime minister was pushed back from 15 to 20 October.[56][58] On 15 October, Takaichi askedHirofumi Yoshimura, the leader of theJapan Innovation Party, to enter into a coalition with the LDP.[59] On 17 October, the National Diet officially voted to set 21 October as the session confirmation date.[60] On 19 October, it was announced that the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party agreed to form a coalition, lasting through October 2027. The leaders of both parties signed a coalition agreement on 20 October, clearing Takaichi's path to the premiership.[61][62] At the 21 October meeting of the National Diet, both houses nominated Takaichi to succeed Shigeru Ishiba as prime minister.[63] Takaichi avoided a runoff in the lower house, garnering 237 votes againstConstitutional Democratic Party leaderYoshihiko Noda's 149.[64] She was officially appointed prime minister by EmperorNaruhito in a ceremony at theTokyo Imperial Palace later that day.[65] She became both the first woman,[66] and the first person from Nara Prefecture to hold the post.[67] She is also the first prime minister of Japan born in the 1960s.
Takaichi stands in the National Diet following her nomination as prime minister
After becoming prime minister on 21 October, Takaichi formedher cabinet. While she had said that she wanted her cabinet to include as many women as those in theNordic countries,[68][69] only two women would actually join the cabinet:Satsuki Katayama as Japan's first femalefinance minister,[70] andKimi Onoda as economic security minister.[68] In her inaugural press conference, Takaichi said that she "prioritisedequality of opportunity" above all else, and had selected ministers based on their qualifications, not gender.[71][72]
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 andShinjiro Koizumi as defense minister. Ishiba's confidantRyosei Akazawa was promoted to minister of economy, trade and industry, showing a degree of continuity.[73][74] Chief Cabinet SecretaryMinoru Kihara, however, is ideologically aligned with Takaichi, a break from recent prime ministers.[75]
Prime Minister Takaichi speaks in front of reporters during her first press conference as prime minister at thePrime Minister's Residence on 21 October 2025
During the first press conference of her premiership on 21 October 2025, Takaichi outlined her key priorities such as tackling rising inflation and also 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 the country'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 are also in line with her agreement with theJapan Innovation Party. Takaichi also stated that crisis management is part of her core agendas in 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.[76] According to local reports, Takaichi is currently planning a ¥13.9 trillion ($92.19 billion) economic stimulus package as part of her first economic initiative policies aimed for "responsible proactive fiscal policy", which has three main pillars; namely measures to counter inflation, investment in growth industries, and national security. Other proposals also include the expansion of local government grants for small and medium businesses and additional investments in technology such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors.[77]
During her first policy speech at theNational Diet on 24 October 2025, Takaichi repeated her priorities in tackling inflation, fiscal spending, the creation of a economic growth panel, and her previous proposal on scrapping the provisional tax on gasoline.[78] Takaichi also 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 theJapan Self-Defense Forces, while laying out a proposal to revise the country's three national security documents due to the evolving threats in the region, such as theRussian invasion of Ukraine, theGaza war, theRed Sea crisis, and increasing military actions byNorth Korea,Russia, andChina. Takaichi also mentioned the need to continuation of Japan's alliance with theUnited States while enhancing Japan's diplomacy to the international community.[79] Takaichi also 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.[80] Takaichi emphasized the need for immigrant labour, saying that foreign workers are still needed to supplement Japan's declining population. She highlighted the need to balance labour market needs and the increasing immigrant population, noting that the country's acceptance of migrants is premised on their compliance with Japan's rules and laws, and vowed to strengthen regulations to enforce compliance.[80]
Like her fellow candidates in the 2025 LDP leadership election, Takaichi has been described as taking a "hard-line stance" on immigration.The New York Times stated that during her leadership campaign "she seized on a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment".[104] Specifically she has been described as wanting "tighter restrictions on immigration"[105] and employed "anti-immigration rhetoric" during her campaign.[106]
During the campaign she called for a "crackdown" on illegal migration and emphasized that "foreigners must strictly obey" Japanese law stating that those who overstay their visa or abscond from justice should be treated as harshly as Japanese citizens. She proposed that policies be reconsidered from the ground up, with an aim to establish an "orderly coexistence" between Japanese citizens and immigrants based on "mutual consideration" in communities. In her campaign manifesto she also proposed establishing an agency to tackle issues such as visa overstays, overtourism, and land purchases by foreign nationals, particularly near defense facilities and strategic assets. On refugees she explicitly stated: "For those who come [to Japan] with financial motives and claim that they are refugees, I'll have you go home."[107][108]
Takaichi supports adoption of a "Comprehensive Economic Security Act" that would establish laws and organizations to prevent foreign students and engineers who come to Japan from nations like China from taking Japanese technology back to their home countries for military purposes.[109]
Economics
Takaichi is known for favouring proactive government spending. She supports heavy government investment in critical strategic sectors in what she refers to as "crisis management investment". These include:artificial intelligence,semiconductors,nuclear fusion,biotechnology, and defence.[110] She supports maintaining Shinzo Abe's policy ofAbenomics.[111] During the 2025 LDP leadership election, she said she would consider paying for an economic stimulus plan by issuingbonds to service the national debt.[112]
During her 2021 run for LDP leader, she put forward a three-pronged "Plan to Strengthen the Japanese Economy", also known as "New Abenomics" or "Sanaenomics". The first prong is expansionarymonetary policy, the second prong is "flexible fiscal spending in response to crises," and the third prong is "bold investment in crisis management and growth".[113] The plan places particular emphasis on "bold crisis management and growth investment", which will involve large-scale fiscal spending and the development of legal systems and new economic bonds.[114]
Takaichi has advocated for tax increases on corporations. She has considered raising taxes on cash deposits rather than retained earnings, and in September 2021 she estimated that "a 1% tax on corporate cash deposits would increase tax revenue by 2 trillion yen. Even if companies with capital of 100 million yen or less are excluded, tax revenue would increase by 1 trillion yen."[113]
Takaichi has advocated stricter regulations on the media, including penalties for outlets that she believes unfairly criticize the government, and legal consequences for defacing or damaging Japan's national flag.[93] In 2014, she hosted office visits for far-right extremists.[93] Also in 2014, a photo surfaced of Takaichi pictured for an advertisement in a Tokyo magazine endorsing a 1994 book titledHitler's Election Strategy.[117] Takaichi serves as the vice chairperson of the parliamentary conference of the Shinto Association of Spiritual Leadership (Shinto Seiji Renmei),[15] which advocates for restoration ofShinto religious rites and moral education.[118]
Foreign policy
Takaichi, like all other candidates in the 2025 LDP leadership election, supports revisingarticle nine of the Japanese constitution to include mention of theJapan Self-Defence Forces.[119] In 2021, she advocated revising the constitution to reposition the Self-Defense Forces as a "National Army", and increasing defense spending to promote the procurement of advanced equipment and research and development. She stated that in the event of war, "it is important to neutralize enemy bases first."[120] She has proposed the adoption of anti-espionage legislation, something also supported by the opposition parties such as theDemocratic Party for the People.[108] She is also in favour of the creation of a nationalintelligence agency.[121]
Takaichi has been critical of Chinese economic practices such asintellectual property theft, and has voiced support for reducing economic dependence on China. She has argued for deployment of US medium-range missiles to Japan,[122] and the removal ofmarine buoys placed by China in waters both countries claim as part of theSenkaku Islands dispute.[123] In April 2025, she visited Taiwan and met with PresidentLai Ching-te. She has repeated Shinzo Abe's statement that a "Taiwan emergency is a Japan emergency."[124] During the2021 Liberal Democratic Party leadership election, in which she placed third, her stance on China was the most hawkish of any candidate.[122]
Takaichi has made multiple visits toYasukuni Shrine, which is viewed ascontroversial in China and Korea, primarily surrounding its enshrinement of Japanese Second World War-eraClass A war criminals.[133][134][8] She made visits in April and August 2024, both times signing as minister of state.[133][134][8] She also visited in August 2025, on the 80th anniversary of thesurrender of Japan.[135] In the 2021 LDP leadership race, she said she would continue to visit the shrine if elected prime minister,[122] but in the 2025 race avoided commenting on the question.[102]
In 2022, Takaichi made remarks about the Yasukuni Shrine issue that were controversial in South Korea.[136] She said, "When we act ambiguously, such as stopping our visits to Yasukuni Shrine midway, the other sideclimbs up", using the derogatory Japanese wordtsukeagaru, which means "to take advantage of someone's politeness or kindness and act impudently". She went on to say that continuing to visit the shrine would eventually make "neighbouring countries...look foolish and stop complaining".[136]
Takaichi has said that war crimes committed by Japan in World War II have been exaggerated.[8] She takes a negative view of theKono[137][138] and theMurayama statements,[139][140] which issued apologies forJapanese war crimes, includingcomfort women. In an appearance on a television program on 18 August 2002, Takaichi was asked, "Do you think Japan's war after theManchurian Incident was a war of self-defence?" to which she replied, "I think it was a war for security."[141]
Takaichi married a fellow member of the House of Representatives,Taku Yamamoto, in 2004.[143] They have no children together, but Takaichi adopted Yamamoto's three children from a previous marriage. They divorced in July 2017, with Takaichi citing differing political views and aspirations as the reason.[144][145] They remarried in December 2021. She has four grandchildren through her stepchildren.[146][147] After undergoing surgery for agynecological disease, Takaichi found it difficult toconceive andgive birth, and gave up on having children. In 2007, she said, "I want society to be welcoming toinfertile women."[148]
During her first marriage, Takaichi assumed her husband's family namelegally, but continued to use her maiden name in public life. Upon remarriage, Taku Yamamoto took the name Takaichi instead, fulfilling the legal requirement that married couples have the same family name.[2] Yamamoto suffered from acerebral infarction in 2025, leaving the right side of his body paralysed. Takaichi serves as hiscaregiver.[149] Despite being members of opposing political parties, Takaichi is known to be friends withCDP PresidentYoshihiko Noda, who also serves as the opposition leader since 2024. Noda was Takaichi's senior during their time at theMatsushita Institute of Government and Management.[150][151]
A view of Takaichi's Toyota Supra A70 currently displayed in a museum in Nara
^"Fumio Kishida Is Japan's New Prime Minister. Here's How He Beat a Much More Popular Rival".Time. 29 September 2021.Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved27 July 2025.Yoshikazu Kato, a director of a Tokyo-based research and consulting firm Trans-Pacific Group (TPG), believes Kishida's team was able to secure more votes with help from supporters of ultraconservative candidate Sanae Takaichi—who was vying to become Japan's first female prime minister.
^"高市大休氏が死去 高市早苗自民党政調会長の父".Nikkei Shimbun (in Japanese). 6 May 2013.Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved20 October 2025.
^ab"高市早苗氏の意外な過去にフェミニストも震えた 総理の座を狙う過程で何があったのか おんなの話はありがたい" [Even feminists tremble at Sanae Takaichi's surprising past: what happened on the road to prime minister? It's nice to hear a woman's side of the story].PRESIDENT Online (in Japanese). 16 September 2021.Archived from the original on 30 April 2025. Retrieved5 October 2025.
^Although the term "Youth Affairs" is used in its official English title, the original Japanese titleshōshika (少子化) is more aptly translated as "diminishing birth rate issue".
^"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. Retrieved22 October 2025.
^"Fumio Kishida Is Japan's New Prime Minister. Here's How He Beat a Much More Popular Rival".Time. 29 September 2021.Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved27 July 2025.Yoshikazu Kato, a director of a Tokyo-based research and consulting firm Trans-Pacific Group (TPG), believes Kishida's team was able to secure more votes with help from supporters of ultraconservative candidate Sanae Takaichi—who was vying to become Japan's first female prime minister.
^"「夫の介護が辛い」高市早苗が総裁選前に漏らした介護の苦労" ["It's difficult caring for my husband": Sanae Takaichi reveals struggle before LDP leadership election].Gendai Business (in Japanese). 4 October 2025.Archived from the original on 5 October 2025. Retrieved5 October 2025.
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