Heavy metal heart, iron resolve: Sanae Takaichi takes Japan’s top job

WEB DESK: Sanae Takaichi has never fit the mold of a typical Japanese politician. A lifelong heavy metal fan who once drummed along to Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, she jokes that she still plays her electric drum set at night, usually after her husband falls asleep. That same relentless energy now drives her into Japan’s highest political office, as she becomes the country’s first female prime minister.

The 64-year-old conservative firebrand rose through a male-dominated system that has long resisted change. Her election as head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) earlier this month marked a seismic shift in the nation’s political landscape, though her path to power has been anything but smooth.

After winning the LDP leadership on October 4, Takaichi was thrust into negotiations to form a government amid political scandal and voter fatigue. The party’s longtime ally, Komeito, abruptly ended its coalition over lingering mistrust from a slush fund controversy, forcing Takaichi to seek new partners. Her breakthrough came when she struck a deal with the opposition Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin), which cleared the way for her election in parliament on Tuesday.

A self-described nationalist, Takaichi has built her career championing conservative values: a stronger military, constitutional revision, and traditional family structures. She has long been associated with Nippon Kaigi, a right-wing lobby that promotes patriotic education and downplays Japan’s wartime aggression. Her critics call her Japan’s “Iron Lady,” likening her to Margaret Thatcher, a comparison she embraces.

Born in Nara Prefecture to working-class parents, her father was a car company employee and her mother a police officer, Takaichi carved her own political path. Before entering politics, she worked as a TV commentator and once interned for a Democratic congresswoman in the US. Elected to parliament at 32, she became known for her sharp intellect and signature “Sanae cut” — a short hairstyle symbolising her resolve.

Her government faces a daunting to-do list: tackling inflation, rebuilding trust after corruption scandals, and confronting Japan’s demographic crisis. She has promised sweeping stimulus and coined “Sanaenomics,” echoing her mentor Shinzo Abe’s economic vision.

Takaichi’s hardline conservatism has unsettled centrists within Japan’s ruling party. She backs revising the pacifist constitution, rejects separate surnames for married couples, and regularly visits a war shrine honouring convicted war criminals. Her hawkish stance on China and big-spending, tax-cutting economic plans could test both regional ties and domestic stability as Japan battles inflation, a weak yen, and an ageing population. After a slush fund scandal fractured her party’s coalition with Komeito, Takaichi secured new backing from the right-wing Nippon Ishin.

For Japan, her rise is both historic and symbolic, a woman breaking through the country’s highest glass ceiling. For Takaichi herself, it’s another drumbeat in a career defined by defiance, discipline, and determination.