Sanae Takaichi Japan Sanae Takaichi is Japan’s New Prime Minister, and She’s a Heavy Metal Drummer
In the late 1970s, as a young woman, Sanae Takaichi traveled six hours daily by bus and train from her parents’ home in western Japan to university. She was a fan of heavy metal music and Kawasaki motorcycles and yearned to get out of the house. But her mother initially insisted she stay at home and forbade her from living in a boarding house until marriage.
“I dreamed of building my own palace,” Ms. Takaichi wrote in her 1992 memoir.
On Tuesday, Ms. Takaichi won election as Japan’s prime minister, the first woman to do so in the country’s history. It was the pinnacle of an improbable rise in politics and a milestone in a country where women have long struggled for influence.
A poster of Sanae Takaichi in her constituency in Japan’s Nara Prefecture, where she grew up. Credit: Noriko Hayashi, The New York Times
Ms. Takaichi, 64, who grew up near the ancient Japanese capital of Nara, doesn’t shy away from easily recognizable names. She once spoke openly about the challenges of working in politics as a woman in Japan, yet she is now the leader of the conservative, male-dominated Liberal Democratic Party. She has expressed concern about Japan’s dependence on the United States, but has also said she hopes to work closely with President Trump. She is an amateur drummer who idolizes bands like Iron Maiden and Deep Purple, yet she also wears blue suits to pay tribute to another hero, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
A disciple of Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, Ms. Takaichi is expected to steer Japan in a more right-wing direction, responding to a recent populist wave somewhat similar to Mr. Trump’s MAGA movement. She has pursued aggressive policies toward China; promoted the message of “Japan is back,” downplayed Japan’s atrocities during World War II; and promised to tighten immigration and tourism controls.
“She wants to make Japan strong and prosperous for the Japanese people and the world,” said Yoshiko Sakurai, a prominent journalist and activist who supports Ms. Takaichi. “She is open to the outside world. But she also understands that we have to be truly good Japanese. We have to know our culture, traditions, philosophy, and history.”
Ms. Takaichi faces her biggest test yet as she grapples with new uncertainty surrounding Japan’s military and economic alliance with the United States. Next week, she is expected to meet in Tokyo with Mr. Trump, who has angered Japanese officials with tariffs and suggestions that the country should pay more for the presence of American troops in the region.
While many Japanese politicians come from wealthy and elite backgrounds, Ms. Takaichi grew up in modest circumstances in Nara Prefecture, a region filled with temples, shrines, dense forests, and lush hills. Her mother worked in the police department, and her father worked for a car parts company.