A former internal affairs minister with an expansionary economic agenda, Takaichi is set to become Japan’s first female prime minister after the 64-year-old was elected as the Liberal Democratic Party(LDP) head on Saturday.
Her nationalistic positions – such as her regular visits to the Yasukuni shrine to Japan’s war dead, viewed by some Asian neighbours as a symbol of its past militarism – may rile South Korea and China.
She also favours revising Japan’s pacifist postwar constitution and suggested this year that Japan could form a “quasi-security alliance” with Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China.
Takaichi, the only woman among the five LDP candidates, beat a challenge from the more moderate Koizumi, 44, who was bidding to become the country’s youngest leader in the modern era.
Takaichi has raised the possibility of redoing an investment deal with US President Donald Trump that lowered his punishing tariffs in return for Japanese taxpayer-backed investment.
Takaichi has said she would travel overseas more regularly than her predecessor to spread the word that “Japan is Back!”
