Takaichi, Abe's heir and candidate to become Tokyo's first female prime minister

The former interior minister, known for her tough stance on China and her nationalist policies, won the Liberal Democratic Party primaries and is set to lead the government as its leader. However, without a majority in parliament, she will have to seek new alliances. The crux of the matter is her relationship with the far right of Sanseito.

Milan (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The first woman to lead the Liberal Democratic Party and, as such, a candidate to soon become the first woman to lead the Japanese government. Moreover - above all - the representative who brings back to the top of the conservative party the wing closest to Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history, proponent of a nationalist policy, assassinated in July 2022 two years after leaving the leadership of the government.

Former Home Secretary Sanae Takaichi is therefore the winner of the Liberal Democratic Party's primary election to succeed the outgoing Shigheru Ishiba, who led the party for just one year, suffering another resounding defeat in the last election.

Takaichi prevailed by a very narrow margin in the run-off against the young reformist Shinjiro Koizumi, the Minister of Agriculture who in recent months has managed to contain the effects of the rice price crisis in Tokyo. In the end, Takaichi won with 149 votes against Koizumi's 145 among party delegates.

A native of Nara, where she was born 64 years ago, Sanae Takaichi has explicitly cited Margaret Thatcher as a model in her mission to build a “strong and prosperous” Japan. Already defeated by Shigeru Ishiba in the previous primaries, her victory represents a comeback for the most strongly nationalist wing within the party that has governed Japan almost uninterruptedly since the war.

Takaichi is known for her criticism of China and regularly makes pilgrimages to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honours Japanese war dead and is a constant source of friction with Beijing, which even on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II insisted on anti-Japanese rhetoric.

In terms of social policy, the new conservative leader has conservative views: she is opposed to allowing married couples to use different surnames - a reform popular with voters but which, in her view, would undermine traditional family values. She opposes same-sex marriage and is equally opposed to the idea of female emperors.

In the economic field, Abe's influence is evident: Takaichi is in favour of aggressive public spending to stimulate the Japanese economy, the fourth largest in the world. She has also opened up the possibility of renegotiating the trade and investment agreement with the United States on terms more favourable to Tokyo, under which Donald Trump agreed to reduce tariffs on Japanese cars and other goods in exchange for 0 billion in Japanese investment.

But it was above all the sensitive issue of immigration that was the main focus of her election campaign, in a clear attempt to win back voters who had abandoned her party to vote for Sanseito, the new far-right force that emerged greatly strengthened from last July's elections to the upper house of the Japanese parliament. Takaichi called for restrictions on property purchases by foreigners and tougher measures against illegal immigration.

With the outcome of the primaries now clear, the question of Ishiba's succession as head of government arises, for which Takaichi is the natural candidate. However, the path to becoming the first woman to head the Japanese government will not be easy.

After the last elections, the Liberal Democratic Party and its minor coalition partner, Komeito, no longer have a majority in both houses of the Diet. Takaichi will therefore have to seek votes in parliament and may attempt to gain external support from Sanseito.

However, time is short: US President Donald Trump is expected in Asia at the end of the month for the APEC summit, the Pacific economic cooperation body, to be held in Gyeongju, South Korea, before which – on 27 October – a stop in Japan is already scheduled for a meeting with the new Prime Minister in Tokyo.