Sanae Takaichi made historical past on Tuesday when she turned Japan’s first feminine prime minister. However hours after she was elected by MPs, it was evident that feminine underneath illustration within the nation’s political institution would proceed when she appointed simply two ladies to her cupboard.
Takaichi had promised ranges of feminine illustration in her authorities corresponding to these in Iceland, Finland and Norway.
Satsuki Katayama, who turned the primary girl to carry the submit of finance minister, was joined by Kimi Onoda as financial safety minister in Takaichi’s 19-member cupboard.
Six of Iceland’s 11 cupboard members are ladies, together with the prime minister, Kristrún Frostadóttir, and in Finland ladies occupy 11 of 19 cupboard posts.
Takaichi’s instant predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, appointed two ladies to his cupboard however the report is 5, underneath Ishiba’s predecessor Fumio Kishida.
Takaichi, an ultra-conservative whose Liberal Democratic get together (LDP) has fashioned a coalition with a minor get together that shares her hawkish method to defence and revisionist views on wartime historical past, has mentioned she needs to boost consciousness of girls’s well being and has spoken about her personal expertise of menopause.
However like her political hero Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi will probably be guided by the social conservatism that made her the favored selection amongst MPs and rank-and-file members on the precise of the LDP when she ran for the get together management this month.
She opposes revising a Nineteenth-century legislation requiring married {couples} to make use of the identical surname, arguing that permitting ladies to retain their maiden names would chip away at conventional household values.
She additionally opposes requires adjustments to succession legal guidelines to permit feminine members of the imperial family – which has few male heirs – to develop into reigning empresses. She has spoken out in opposition to discrimination in the direction of members of the LGBTQ+ group, however opposes same-sex marriage.
“The prospect of a primary feminine prime minister doesn’t make me pleased,” the sociologist Chizuko Ueno mentioned in a submit on X. Takaichi’s management would elevate Japan’s gender equality rating, Ueno mentioned, however added “that doesn’t imply Japanese politics will develop into kinder to ladies”.
Others had been optimistic that Takaichi’s appointment would decrease the psychological limitations to ladies coming into public life. “There’s nice significance in Takaichi changing into prime minister, with a broader influence on society,” Naomi Koshi, who turned Japan’s youngest feminine mayor in 2012 aged 36, instructed the Kyodo information company.
Takaichi had a relatively small pool of feminine MPs from which to nominate her cupboard. Though a report 73 ladies had been elected in final 12 months’s decrease home elections, they nonetheless comprise solely 15.7% of the chamber’s 465 MPs.
In accordance with the World Financial Discussion board’s 2025 gender hole index, Japan ranked 118th out of 148 international locations.
Companies contributed reporting.
