New born of woman’s prime minster in Japan
Today (October 21, 2025) marks a historic day in Japanese politics. Sanae Takaichi, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has been elected as the first female prime minister by the National Diet.
When we consider the history, women didn’t have the right to vote for election and could not be candidates for politician including local assembly or mayor.
Before World War 2, there was a movement by Fusae Ichikawa to require the political participation rights for women. But Japan has to wait for it until 1945 by the new legislation which is strongly guided by the occupied armed force (general head quoters; GHQ).
It took 80 years after that.
If we observe the case of Britain, the first woman prime minister was Margaret Thacher seated in 1979. At that time, she was regarded as a lucky lady and had little power as a leader, especially with senior Members of Parliament. But she had a strong will to win the Falkland dispute at Alzentine and could achieve victory. In addition, she has proceeded with the strong revolution from the viewpoint of neo-liberalism. Personally, I am of the opposite opinion of neoliberalism, but I still respect her achievement.
Back to Japan. It is not accurate that this Takaichi administration will continue long or collapse at an early stage. In addition, many nations oppose her policy and right wing political philosophy. But from the other point of view, in 20 or 30 years from now, 2025 will be memorized as a historical year that woman finally became the top leader of the nation in Japan.
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