‘Iron Lady’ Sanae Takaichi’s heavy metal past revealed as she becomes Japan’s first ever female prime minister
Topics: Politics, World News, Music
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon - Pool/Getty Images
Topics: Politics, World News, Music
Japan’s first female Prime Minister has a past that you wouldn’t expect.
Sanae Takaichi of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has now been awarded the historic title of Japan’s first female Prime Minister after Shigeru Ishiba announced his plans to resign from his post last month.
According to The Independent, Takaichi's victory was the result of a coalition agreement between the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party (Opposition Nippon Ishin), with the 64-year-old securing 237 votes in the 465 lower house.
In her electoral speech, she promises to 'dedicate myself completely to discharging my duty of forging a path for Japan's future', adding: "I will work resolutely for the sake of our nation and the Japanese people, filled with the determination to press ahead tenaciously under any circumstances.
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"I will strive to build a strong economy, turning people's unease and apprehension over their current lives and the future into hope, and I will deal with the challenges facing the international community as I embark on restoring Japanese diplomacy that flourishes on the world's center stage."
Contrary to her political life, she has quite an interesting past.
Taikaichi grew up in the Nara prefecture of Japan, where her mother worked in the police department and her father worked at a car parts manufacturer.
She attended Kobe University despite receiving admission to various elite institutions in Tokyo, The New York Times reports.
The politician had previously said in interviews that her parents believed she did not need a university education due to her gender and wanted to save money to support her younger brother instead.
After Kobe, she attended the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, a hub for Japanese politicians and business figures. Before her political career, she worked as an author and television personality.
However, while in college, she played drums in a band, and reports say she loves bands like Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, and Black Sabbath.
She was even seen on national TV singing the rock song 'Rusty Nail' by the Japanese band X Japan as part of a 2016 karaoke show, according to NME.
As a drummer herself, she admitted she’s partial to playing an electronic kit when her husband goes to sleep, telling Tokyo FM that she plays songs like 'Burn' by Deep Purple to 'let off steam'.
According to reports, she also used to ride motorcycles but stopped three decades ago.
石破茂新総裁が誕生したのでRusty Nailを熱唱する高市早苗でも見るか。 pic.twitter.com/pPchN0Sm5u
— ISSA (@IS_BELALGOAT) September 27, 2024
Takaichi, known for her conservative views and desire to work with President Donald Trump, is expected to lead the nation further to the right in politics.
The 64-year-old is allegedly ‘one of the most conservative people in Japan's conservative LDP,’ said Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan, as per NPR.
She has previously advocated for stricter immigration restrictions and apparently idolises British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which is why she too is nicknamed the ‘Iron Lady’.
When it comes to her stance on immigration, Taikaichi had previously claimed the rising number of foreigners in Japan was 'rattling nerves', and that 'immigration in a hurry would create a hostile atmosphere within Japanese society'.
She has expressed opposition towards same-sex marriage and towards women keeping their maiden names after marriage, as she claims it undermines traditional values.
Taikaichi has also spoken against female succession in the case of the Imperial family, as Emperor Naruhito has one child, a daughter Aiko, who is behind her uncle, Crown Prince Fumihito, and her cousin, Prince Hisahito.
According to NBC, she has also called for a revision of Japan's pacifist constitution and higher spending on defence.
Though she'd pledged to include women at a 'Nordic-level' standard, with 11 of Iceland's cabinet members being women, she's only appointed two women so far (via The Guardian).
She also apparently has some controversial views on Japan's WWII history, as in 2013, she urged former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to reconsider previous apologies for Japan's war crimes and has previously called for Japanese leaders to visit the Yasukuni shrine, which was made to honour the country's war dead, with some honoured having been convicted as being war criminals.