Takaichi Becomes the First Female LDP President

Can she become prime minister?

By Takuya Nishimura, APP Senior Fellow, Former Editorial Writer for The Hokkaido Shimbun.
October 6, 2025

Former Minister of Economic Security Sanae Takaichi won the presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on October 4, making her the first female president in the party’s history. As the race turned to be a match between pro- and anti-Ishiba blocs, Takaichi achieved a sweeping victory, assembling conservative votes within the LDP – largely among general party members. The point now is whether she can mitigate division in the party and restore the LDP’s historical majority in both Houses of the Diet.

In the election, Takaichi showed her strength among rank-and-file voters of the party. The first-round score of each candidate was 183 (64 from lawmakers and 119 general party members) for Takaichi, 164 (80 and 84) for Minister of Environment Shinjiro Koizumi, 134 (72 and 62) for Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 59 (44 and 15) for former Minister of Economic Security Takayuki Kobayashi, and 49 (34 and 15) for former LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi.

Because no candidate achieved a simple majority, the election went to a run-off between Takaichi and Koizumi. Takaichi received 185 votes (149 from lawmakers and 36 from party branches), and Koizumi 156 (145 and 11). Before the election Takaichi seemed popular among the rank-and-file and Koizumi had strength among lawmakers. The election itself showed that Takaichi dominated both groups.

One reason for Takaichi’s victory was a fundamental concern of rank-and-file members who realized that LDP support had eroded everywhere in Japan with the advance of conservative parties such as Sanseito. These parties significantly increased their seats in July’s Upper House election. Trying to regain conservative votes that had left the LDP, the general members hoped to restore the conservative cause of the party by voting for the right-wing Takaichi.

Another critical element in Takaichi’s favor was a maneuver by a heavyweight in the party, former prime minister Taro Aso. He leads only one faction in the LDP, but it was enough. He instructed his allies to vote in the run-off for the candidate who had received the largest number of votes from general party members in the first round. The faction members knew this meant voting for Takaichi because it had become obvious before the election that she was leading Koizumi among general members.

The victory of Takaichi, in short, was based on separate motivations of the rank and file and the Aso faction members in the Diet. The right-leaning sentiment of LDP general members was to defend the party from surges of new conservative movements throughout Japan. Lawmakers represented by Aso hoped to maintain the traditional political arrangement in which factions, once rejected by public voters, again dominate power in the party.

Takaichi was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time as an independent in 1993. She joined the LDP in 1996, after a short affiliation with the later-dissolved New Frontier Party (Shinshin-tou). She became a member of the Seiwakai Policy Study Group, a faction led by Yoshiro Mori, Jun-ichiro Koizumi and eventually by Shinzo Abe. Takaichi eventually became chair of the LDP Policy Research Council, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, and Minister on Economic Security.

Known as a conservative lawmaker close to Abe, Takaichi repeatedly visited the Yasukuni Shrine on its festival days and the August 15 Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead. She has argued forcefully for amendment of Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan. Takaichi also advocates mobilization of financial policies to inject substantial amounts of government money into the market, i.e., deficit spending. Such spending reflects the economic policies of the Abe administration known as Abenomics. She has also spoken favorably of the need to regulate foreigners in Japan, a position that attracts the xenophobic sentiment of conservative voters.

Takaichi is better known as a promotor of a hawkish agenda than as an advocate for women’s rights – notwithstanding that she is likely to become the first woman prime minister. She opposes separate surnames and instead calls for expanded use of nicknames. She wholeheartedly supports primogeniture, a doctrine under which a male Emperor is succeeded by a male heir in the male line belonging to the imperial lineage. This doctrine rules out the possibility of female emperor.

“I will make this party with the participation of everyone, bringing all generations together,” said Takaichi in her press conference right after the LDP presidential election. Her first assignment as the LDP president is to reunite the party which was divided between members who favored Ishiba and those who opposed him. However, it is likely that figures from anti-Ishiba groups will populate her administration.

The fact that Aso’s endorsement ensured Takaichi’s election means that she will be beholden to him. Press reports indicate that Takaichi is considering picking Shun-ichi Suzuki, a former Minister of Finance, a ranking member of the Aso faction and his brother-in-law, as Secretary General of the LDP. The appointment is probably a show of gratitude to Aso.

To bolster the right wing of her administration, Takaichi reportedly plans to pick Takayuki Kobayashi, one of the candidates in the presidential election, as chair of the LDP Policy Research Council. She will likely also appoint Haruko Arimura for the chairwoman of General Council and Keiji Furuya for the head of Election Committee, both well-known ultra conservative. Her selections for LDP board members are overwhelmingly hawkish.

It is also said that she plans to appoint Minoru Kihara, a former member of the Motegi Faction, as Chief Cabinet Secretary of her Cabinet. Takaichi is said to be considering inclusion of Motegi, Koizumi, and Hayashi, three of her contenders in the presidential election into her cabinet.

The appointments may also represent the restoration of factions that were disbanded in the aftermath of the scandal involving the factions’ illegal management of political funds. She is appointing Koichi Hagiuda, one of the recipients of secret funds from former Abe faction, to LDP Executive Acting Secretary General. Although this slush fund scandal helped cause the LDP’s serious defeats in the national elections in 2024 and 2025, Takaichi has declared that she would distribute important posts in her administration to the lawmakers who had been involved in the scandal. She scarcely mentioned reform of the LDP in her presidential campaign.

Takaichi is likely to be elected the first female prime minister to succeed Shigeru Ishiba in the extraordinary session of the Diet in mid-October. The leading coalition of the LDP and Komeito does not have a majority in either House, meaning that Takaichi will have to attract votes from outside these two parties. However, the opposition parties are too divided to settle on a candidate for prime minister from within their own ranks. Even so, Takaichi will have to find a way to work with the opposition if the Takaichi Cabinet is to implement her policies.

Although Takaichi thinks that her administration should be based on the LDP’s traditional partnership with Komeito, this peace-focused party opposes many of Takaichi’s hawkish views. Its Chief Representative, Tetsuo Saito, has indicated that Takaichi must modify four policies to maintain the leading coalition: visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, given their adverse effect on diplomacy; fair treatment of foreigners in Japan; stricter regulation of campaign contributions by companies and organizations; and expansion of the LDP-Komeito coalition.

Takaichi’s victory was a surprise to the opposition parties, and there appear to be differing results. The Democratic Party for the People (DPP) has focused on implementation of their economic policy, and the Takaichi administration expects to build a close relationship with them. It was reported that the DPP would be the first target for Takaichi to formulate a new coalition

Other parties may be less successful. The Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin-no Kai) has not been able to cooperate with Komeito in single-seat districts in Osaka. Given its hope to amend security legislation in 2015, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) is unlikely to be a coalition partner of the LDP. The CDPJ nevertheless favors a refundable tax credit that is a priority for Takaichi.

In diplomacy, Takaichi’s first test is likely to be U.S. President Donald Trump. He is expected to make a state visit to Tokyo later this October (reportedly 27-29). Frustrated with Trump’s imposition of a 15 percent tariff on Japanese products, Takaichi previously has suggested renegotiating the tariff agreement. Observers on both sides of the Pacific will watch with great interest whether Takaichi can build a personal relationship with Trump that benefits Japan.

Improving, or at least maintaining, relations with neighboring countries are another vital task for Takaichi. Her continuing visits to the Yasukuni Shrine have caused China to accuse Japan of indifference to historical issues. Her political mentor, Abe, undermined Japan’s relationship with the Republic of Korea by encouraging a revisionist history of the former colony. Takaichi’s like-minded historical views may similarly affect Japan’s relationship with Korea, which had improved in the Ishiba administration.

Whether Takaichi can revive the LDP while managing diplomacy toward both Japan’s neighbors and the U.S. is her challenge.