Takaichi elected Japan's first female head of government

Formation of government

Takaichi elected Japan’s first female head of government

Updated 10/21/2025 – 7:30 a.mReading time: 1 min.

With the national-conservative Sanae Takaichi, a woman is taking over the office of head of government in Japan for the first time. (archive image) (Source: Eugene Hoshiko/AP/dpa/dpa-bilder)

With the election of Sanae Takaichi, Japan will have an even more right-wing government. Japan’s first woman to lead a minority government – which doesn’t make governing easy.

Japan’s staunchly national-conservative former Interior Minister Sanae Takaichi has been elected in parliament as her country’s first female head of government. The 64-year-old succeeds the comparatively liberal Shigeru Ishiba, who recently announced his resignation after her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost elections. Takaichi owes her election to the LDP’s new alliance partner, the conservative-neoliberal Ishin Party. The opposition camp was unable to agree on a common candidate. However, since the LDP, as the largest party, narrowly misses a majority in parliament even with Ishin, it will continue to form a minority government.