Some young women feel pleased, empowered, and hopeful that Sanae Takaichi was elected Japan’s first female prime minister.
But others remain skeptical about whether Takaichi’s inauguration truly marks a milestone for women’s advancement in Japanese politics — and about her policy ambitions to support future generations of women.
Ren Ichihara, a 24-year-old sales worker in Tokyo and a member of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), says she feels inspired by Takaichi.
“I believe she was elected as prime minister for her ability, having paved her path through relentless effort from the time when women’s advancement in society was still far from established,” she said.
“While I see the growing presence of women as decision-makers in Japanese politics, Takaichi has become an encouraging role model for me as someone aspiring to be a politician,” she told DW.
Many other young women without political ambitions also view Japan’s first female PM in a positive way.
“First of all, I’m pleased that Japan finally has a female prime minister,” said Ayano Suzuki, a 27-year-old working in Shizuoka prefecture.
She added that Takaichi’s election has captured the attention of people who are not usually interested in politics, which “has a positive impact.”
Fumi Nakamura, a 27-year-old woman who works for a Japanese English-language publisher, said, “I already have a potentially favorable impression of Takaichi. I think the younger generation feels close to her psychologically.”
Gender narrative overshadows policy
Meanwhile, a 26-year-old Japanese female graduate student in China, who wishes to stay anonymous, said she was disappointed when Takaichi was elected Japan’s first female PM.
“Feminists, including myself, do not support a politician simply because she is a woman,” she told DW. “She may be a product of decades of Japan’s male-dominated political world.”
Suzuki also finds it problematic that most of the discussion about Japan’s new administration centers on gender aspects, with little attention paid to the substance of its policies.
For example, Takaichi admitted to sleeping “about two hours now, four hours at the longest,” noting that “I feel it’s bad for my skin.” Suzuki said that such narratives “feel detached from the essence of politics and overly tied to her being a woman.”
Protege of Shinzo Abe
Takaichi’s first policy speech signaled an intention to carry on with the strategies of Japan’s assassinated ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who won six consecutive elections thanks to his nationalist agenda and growth-oriented economic policies.
Takaichi used phrases that Abe used, such as “a strong economy” and “Japanese diplomacy blooming at the center of the world.”
Sawako Shirahase, research professor at the University of Tokyo, points out that Takaichi “has used to the maximum or copied all the infrastructure of the former administration of Shinzo Abe to get where she is today.”
On November 7, Takaichi said that a Chinese military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its legal right to collective self-defense. Her comments provoked a strong backlash and countermeasures from China.
Young voters strongly back Takaichi
Despite this, her approval ratings are among the highest in Japanese history.
According to a poll by The Mainichi newspaper conducted on November 22 and 23, the approval rate for the Takaichi administration was 65% — while the disapproval rate was 23%.
The poll shows support rates of 74% among those aged 18–29 and 76% among those in their 30s, indicating the Takaichi administration’s exceptionally high popularity among younger generations.
In contrast, the previous administration of Shigeru Ishiba held an 11% support rate among those aged 18–29 and 15% among those in their 30s.
Shirahase, the research professor, argues that women in politics need to move strategically.
“In Japanese politics, where the traditional conservative base is very strong, women as minorities in politics must work hard without upsetting the men above them in order to be promoted,” Shirahase said. “Takaichi is someone who has internalized conservatism.”
Keiko Kaizuma, vice president for diversity at Iwate University in Morioka, describes Takaichi as “a hybrid of conservatism and feminism.”
“The conservative side has been bringing women into politics to update itself, which has produced the female prime minister ahead,” she said.
Women in politics: how far has Japan come?
Women accounted for 29.1% of the 522 candidates who ran in July’s election for the upper house, the smaller and less powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament. This represents the second-highest rate ever, albeit lower than the target of 35% set by the Japanese government in 2020.
“This is significant in the sense that the liberal side was not able to embody women’s passion in the form of a female prime minister,” said Kaizuma, who noted that “feminism and liberalism have not been successful in mobilizing young women.”
She also points out that compared to Europe and America, Japan lacks an atmosphere that encourages young women to engage in politics or community work.
The symbol of breaking through the glass ceiling is powerful because it gives young women the courage to believe they can overcome such barriers too, Kaizuma added.
Ichihara, who hopes to become a politician, aims to “bring the voices of women, young people, and other groups historically excluded from decision-making into the political sphere.”
“I want to make Japan a country where individuals’ potential can be maximized, even amid population decline, without their choices being restricted by attributes beyond their control, which they were born with,” she concluded.
Edited by: Keith Walker
