With Sanae Takaichi becoming Japan's first female prime minister, public attention is focused on the policies she will pursue. In the economy, Prime Minister Takaichi is expected to push expansionary fiscal and accommodative monetary policies, and in diplomacy and security, to work on boosting national defense capabilities under the banner of "a stronger Japan." Given her history of hard-line remarks, observers cannot rule out the possibility of significant changes in Japan-Korea relations.
According to Kyodo News on the 21st, Liberal Democratic Party leader Takaichi secured a majority in a parliamentary vote to elect the prime minister in the House of Representatives and in the House of Councilors, and was chosen as prime minister. Accordingly, the government Spokesperson will announce the list of Takaichi cabinet ministers, and the cabinet will be formally launched in the evening.
Previously, Prime Minister Takaichi carried forward the political and economic policies of former Prime Minister Abe while making her hardline conservative ideology clear. It is notable that she dubbed her own economic policy package—featuring ▲bold monetary policy ▲swift fiscal policy ▲a new growth strategy—"Sanaenomics," inheriting "Abenomics."
During the LDP leadership race, she was the only one among the five candidates to signal she would even allow issuing deficit-financing government bonds, and she put forward pledges likely to require significant funding, including ▲expanding focused support grants for local governments ▲abolishing the provisional gasoline tax rate ▲creating new tax credits.
At a news conference on the 4th after winning the leadership election, Prime Minister Takaichi emphasized, "Whether it is fiscal policy or monetary policy, the government is responsible."
However, given that both Deputy President Taro Aso and Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki, who were decisive in Takaichi's election, have served as finance ministers, fiscal soundness could be prioritized; and unlike under the Abe administration, when deflation persisted, high inflation is now the top issue, suggesting her policies could face constraints.
On diplomacy and security, her advocacy of "a stronger Japan" suggests she could pursue a rightward-leaning agenda. In the leadership race, Takaichi put forward a raft of right-wing pledges, including ▲explicitly stipulating the Self-Defense Forces in the Constitution ▲enacting an anti-espionage law ▲measures against illegal foreign residents. It is notable that she argued a Minister, rather than a Vice Minister, should attend the Shimane Prefecture "Takeshima Day" event.
Before taking office, Prime Minister Takaichi regularly visited the Yasukuni Shrine during the spring and autumn Reitaisai (annual shrine worship events) and on Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's World War II defeat. However, during the autumn Reitaisai from the 17th to the 19th just before her inauguration, she refrained from visiting and only made a ritual offering payment, apparently choosing to avoid controversy for now in consideration of diplomatic repercussions.
It is uncertain whether Prime Minister Takaichi will continue a moderate course. The centrist-conservative Komeito has left the coalition, and the right-leaning Japan Innovation Party has become the new partner. The Japan Innovation Party is said to have proposed to the LDP ▲establishing a two-party consultative body on revising Article 9 of the Constitution ▲an early revision of the three key security documents ▲a major easing of restrictions on defense equipment exports.
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, the core of the pacifist charter, renounces war and the use of force in perpetuity and rejects maintaining army, navy, and air force capabilities as well as the state's right of belligerency. The three key security documents were created in 2022 and contain a policy of boosting national defense capabilities.
Some observers also predict changes in Japan-Korea relations. Even the previous Shigeru Ishiba cabinet, considered relatively moderate on historical issues, repeated the unfounded claim that Dokdo is Japan's inherent territory, and because Takaichi has made even tougher remarks, conflict between the two countries appears inevitable. Given that a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine serves to rally conservatives in Japan, there is also a possibility that such visits could resume without notice.
Some say the key question is whether President Lee Jae-myung and Prime Minister Takaichi can continue the "shuttle diplomacy" restarted under the previous cabinet. President Lee, who took office in June, held three meetings with former Prime Minister Ishiba through last month and affirmed that the two countries would work together on shared challenges.
Attention is also on the possibility that President Lee and Prime Minister Takaichi will hold talks on the sidelines of the APEC summit, which opens in Gyeongju on the 31st. President Lee could also visit Japan to attend the trilateral summit among Korea, China, and Japan, which Japan has sought to host within the year, but the summit schedule has not yet been finalized.