Sanae Takaichi, Japan's first female prime minister, also appointed the first woman ever to the post of finance minister, the position seen as the helmsman of the Japanese economy. The appointee is Satsuki Katayama (66), a three-term member of the House of Councilors from the Liberal Democratic Party. A former official at the Ministry of Finance (formerly the Ministry of Finance), Katayama returned to lead her old ministry after more than 20 years. Major media outlets said that, as one of the so-called "Koizumi's children" when she entered politics, she is the right person to draw up the blueprint for the Takaichi Cabinet's economic policies.
According to the Asahi Shimbun and NHK on the 22nd, Finance Minister Katayama followed Japan's most elite track. She was born in 1959 in Saitama Prefecture and graduated from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law. While in college, she was chosen as "Miss University of Tokyo" and also worked as a reader model for a women's magazine.
In 1982, she began her public service career as the fifth female official (Type I national civil servant) to enter the Ministry of Finance. In the male-dominated bureaucracy of the time, she monopolized "first woman" titles. After studying at the École Nationale d'Administration (ENA) in France, she served in key posts including assistant to the Director in the International Finance Bureau and principal examiner in the Budget Bureau. The Budget Bureau is the Ministry of Finance's core department that drafts the government budget. In 2004, she became the first woman to rise to budget examiner and handled defense budget allocations.
At a news conference on the 21st, she shared an anecdote from her days as a bureaucrat. She said that when she asked Minister Michio Watanabe whether "a woman can become a tax office chief, a principal examiner in the Budget Bureau, or a budget examiner," she was told, "If you are capable, you can," adding, "I went on to do all three." In an interview with the Mainichi Shimbun, Finance Minister Katayama also said, "Wherever I went, I was the first as a woman. I am used to walking a path where none exists."
In 2005, she left behind 23 years as a bureaucrat and entered politics. Riding the wave of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's push for postal privatization, she was first elected to the House of Representatives. The 83 first-term LDP lawmakers who swept in at the time were dubbed "Koizumi's children" (小泉チルドレン) by the media. Former Prime Minister Koizumi also boosted the newly appointed finance minister, Katayama, calling her the "Madonna of reform."
However, she lost her seat in the 2009 general election amid the Democratic Party's surge. In the 2010 House of Councilors election, she made a comeback through proportional representation and became a three-term lawmaker. In the Abe Cabinet in 2018, she served as minister for regional revitalization.
She expressed full support by being named one of the 20 endorsers when Prime Minister Takaichi ran in the LDP presidential election. Prime Minister Takaichi put forward "responsible active fiscal policy" as her banner in the economic policy institutional sector. That directly clashes with the traditional Ministry of Finance line that prioritizes fiscal soundness.
Finance Minister Katayama has also traditionally supported fiscal expansion. As a budget examiner in 2004 during her bureaucratic career, she led cuts to the defense budget in line with the Koizumi Cabinet's "structural reform with no sacred cows." However, after becoming a politician, she shifted to an advocate of active fiscal policy. Markets also worry that the Takaichi Cabinet will increase government expenditure and slow the pace of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) interest rate hikes.
At a news conference on the 21st after taking office, Finance Minister Katayama said, "Based on the idea of responsible active fiscal policy, we will manage the economy and public finances," adding, "The top priority (一丁目一番地) is to strengthen Japan's economy through a growth strategy." According to Bloomberg, she added, "It is not unnatural to carry Abenomics into a 2025 version."
The tasks facing the first female finance minister are formidable. Bloomberg reported that she took office as Japan's economy faces troubled finances.
The immediate first test is a supplementary budget. The Ministry of Finance must draw up a large-scale stimulus package to support households and corporations suffering from high inflation. Prime Minister Takaichi instructed Finance Minister Katayama to design a "benefit-type tax credit" as a measure for low- and middle-income groups burdened by social insurance premiums. This is a system that reduces taxes for low-income groups or returns cash, effectively a factor expanding fiscal expenditure. The government will also push measures agreed with the Japan Innovation Party, which formed a coalition with the LDP, including a cut to the gasoline tax (abolition of the former provisional tax rate), special tax measures (corporate tax reduction benefits), and a comprehensive review of large subsidies. Finance Minister Katayama concurrently serves as the minister with special missions in charge of these two areas.
Volatility in the foreign exchange market also needs close monitoring. On the yen's exchange rate, she stated the general view that it is desirable for it to move stably reflecting fundamentals. However, according to Reuters, she said in an interview in March that the "120–130 yen per dollar" range is appropriate and that a stronger yen (円高) is desirable for price stability. As those past remarks run counter to the current weak-yen situation, attention is on the direction of her future foreign exchange policy.
Some have also said that Ministry of Finance bureaucrats fear the homecoming of Finance Minister Katayama, who had remained in politics. The Mainichi Shimbun reported that among current officials she is known as a "scary senior," and there is self-mocking talk that they will "welcome her with beaming smiles (out of fear)."