Sanae Takaichi
Prime Minister of Japan
| Date of Birth | : | 07 March, 1961 (Age 64) |
| Place of Birth | : | Nara, Japan |
| Profession | : | Politician |
| Nationality | : | Japanese |
| Social Profiles | : |
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Sanae Takaichi (সানায়ে তাকাইচি) is a Japanese politician who has been Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since October 2025. She is the first woman to hold either of these positions. A member of the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003 and since 2005, she also held ministerial posts during the premierships of Shinzo Abe and Fumio Kishida.
Born and raised in Yamatokōriyama, Nara Prefecture, Takaichi graduated from Kobe University and worked as an author, legislative aide, and broadcaster before beginning her political career. Elected as an independent to the House of Representatives in the 1993 general election, she joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 1996. A protégé of Prime Minister Abe, she held various positions during Abe's premiership, most notably as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications. She was a candidate in the 2021 LDP leadership election, but was eliminated before the runoff, placing third. From 2022 to 2024, during Fumio Kishida's premiership, she served as the Minister of State for Economic Security.
Early life
Sanae Takaichi was born on 7 March 1961 in Yamatokōriyama, Nara Prefecture, to a dual-income middle-class family. Her father, Daikyū Takaichi (1934–2013), worked for an automotive firm affiliated with Toyota. Her mother, Kazuko Takaichi (1932–2018), served in the Nara Prefectural Police. Takaichi graduated from Nara Prefectural Unebi High School. Despite qualifying to matriculate at Keio and Waseda universities in Tokyo, she did not attend as her parents refused to cover tuition fees if she left home or chose a private university because she was a woman.
Instead, Takaichi commuted six hours from her family home to attend Kobe University, paying her way with part-time work. During her university years she joined a band, playing the drums and was once a member of a heavy metal band. In 1984, she graduated from Kobe with a bachelor's degree in business administration, then enrolled in the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management.
Political beginnings
Takaichi first attempted to run for the Nara Prefecture Electoral District of the House of Councillors during the 1992 House of Councillors elections. She eventually ran as an independent candidate and competed with Mitsuo Hattori for the post, after Mitsuo's father, Yasuji Hattori, decided not to run for the post. Of the 313 eligible voters, Takaichi lost to Hattori as Hattori received a total of 162 votes while Takaichi received a total of 137 votes and 1 invalid vote. Hattori was later proclaimed as the winner of the election.
Early political career (1993–2006)
Takaichi was first elected to the Japanese parliament's lower house, the House of Representatives, in the 1993 Japanese general election as an independent. In 1994, she joined the minor "Liberals" party led by Koji Kakizawa, which soon merged into the New Frontier Party.
In 1996, Takaichi ran as a sanctioned candidate from the New Frontier Party and was re-elected to the House of Representatives, despite the New Frontier Party losing nationally. On 5 November, she responded to recruitment from the Secretary-General of the LDP Koichi Kato and joined the LDP. Her act of switching parties, two months after winning the election with anti-LDP votes, resulted in heavy criticism from New Frontier Party members.
In the LDP, Takaichi belonged to the Mori Faction, formally, the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai, and she served as a Parliamentary Vice Minister for the Ministry of International Trade and Industry under the Keizō Obuchi cabinet. She also served as chairman of the Education and Science Committee. In the 2000 House of Representatives election she was placed in the first position on the LDP's proportional representation list and easily won her third term. In 2002, she was appointed as the Senior Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry under Junichiro Koizumi.
Personal life
Takaichi married a fellow member of the House of Representatives, Taku Yamamoto, in 2004. They have no children together, but Takaichi adopted Yamamoto's three children from a previous marriage. They divorced in July 2017, with Takaichi citing differing political views and aspirations as the reason. They remarried in December 2021. She has four grandchildren through her stepchildren. After undergoing surgery for a gynecological disease, Takaichi found it difficult to conceive and give birth, and gave up on having children. In 2007, she said, "I want society to be welcoming to infertile women."
During her first marriage, Takaichi assumed her husband's family name legally, but continued to use her maiden name in public life. Upon remarriage, Taku Yamamoto took the name Takaichi instead, fulfilling the legal requirement that married couples have the same family name. Yamamoto suffered from a cerebral infarction in 2025, leaving the right side of his body paralysed. Takaichi serves as his caregiver. Despite being members of opposing political parties, Takaichi is known to be friends with Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party, since 2024. Noda was Takaichi's senior during their time at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management.
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