LGBTQ NATION: She's a staunch opponent of same-sex marriage and gender equality.
Japan’s parliament on Tuesday elected ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi as the country’s first female prime minister, ending a three-month power struggle after disastrous election losses in July for the governing Liberal Democratic Party.
Takaichi, 64, replaces Shigeru Ishiba, who lasted just a year as prime minister.
The struggling LDP joined the country’s right-wing Japan Innovation Party to form the fragile alliance enabling Takaichi’s election.
Takaichi still lacks a majority in both houses of parliament, throwing prospects for a successful premiership into doubt from the outset.
Japan has had four prime ministers in the last five years.
While Takaichi breaks a glass ceiling for women in Japan as the country’s first female head of government, she is well known for her hostility to women’s rights, gender equality, and diversity.
Takaichi opposes same-sex marriage, separate surnames for married couples, and female succession for Japan’s imperial family. » | Greg Owen | Sunday, October 26, 2025
