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Amid a latest discussion for the leadership of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), hopefuls were asked to speak in English. The right-wing figure kept her statement brief: “Japan is back,” she declared. Yet her success on Saturday furthermore indicates the advent of a different Japan: eight decades after the close of the world war, the nation is poised to welcome its initial woman premier.

Success of the Right

The veteran rightwinger, who has cited Margaret Thatcher in her drive to build a “resilient and successful” Japan, defeated her liberal challenger, Shinjiro Koizumi, in a runoff election at the LDP base in Tokyo.

Differing from many of her immediate forerunners, Takaichi is not assured of the top position when the Diet meets on 15 October. The LDP and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, have surrendered control in both houses of the Diet over the past year and will have to rely on rival support for Takaichi to be endorsed – although experts believe that is practically guaranteed.

Her win is a comeback for Takaichi, who last year ran unsuccessfully against the outgoing prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba.

Her bid for power faltered this week after objections of her baseless statements, made during a debate, that overseas visitors were mistreating “revered” deer in Nara, where she has been an MP since 1993.

Ideological Connections

Takaichi’s win represents a triumph for the conservative wing of the LDP, which has spent the previous year recovering under the more moderate Ishiba.

She has a direct ideological connection with the ex-leader Shinzo Abe, murdered in 2022, espousing his revisionist views on Japan’s wartime conduct – a position that could create tension with Japan’s regional partners.

Takaichi has been opposed to China and frequently visits to Yasukuni, a temple in Tokyo that honours Japan’s war dead, including condemned offenders. She has displayed comparable right-wing views on social policy: she opposes marriage equality and allowing married couples to use different last names – a step supported by voters that she says would undermine conventional morals. She is equally opposed of the concept of reigning empresses.

Fiscal and Immigration Plans

Abe also figures prominently in her economic policy. Takaichi has said she favors aggressive public spending to boost the world’s fourth-biggest economy, and has floated the idea of renegotiating a commercial agreement with the US in which Donald Trump consented to lower tariffs on Japanese vehicles and various products in exchange for $550bn in Japanese investment.

Her attention to border issues – a subject that occupied the initial half of a 15-minute election address – is seen as an effort to win back voters who abandoned the LDP in public ballots last October and this July in support for fringe nationalist movements, including the rising Sanseito.

During her campaign Takaichi demanded controls on overseas buyers acquiring property and a crackdown on unauthorized entry – a opinion echoed by her four opponents.

Personal Interests and Background

A enthusiast of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team, Takaichi performed as a drummer in a heavy metal band while at university and includes deep-sea diving and watching martial arts among her hobbies.