Hardline Takaichi wins lower house vote to shatter Japan’s glass ceiling and pivot to right

TOKYO: Hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi was set to become Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday after winning a critical vote in parliament’s lower house.

An acolyte of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and an admirer of Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi received 237 votes in the lower house election to choose the next premier, topping the majority of the 465-seat chamber. Her victory shatters the glass ceiling in a country where men still hold overwhelming sway and puts Japan, a close U.S. ally, on a forceful shift to the right.

Her victory comes after her Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for most of its postwar history, agreed to a coalition deal with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin.

Takaichi will likely be approved by the less-powerful upper house and sworn in as Japan’s 104th prime minister on Tuesday evening to succeed the incumbent Shigeru Ishiba, who last month announced his resignation to take responsibility for election losses.

But her elevation is unlikely to be feted as a sign of progressive change, marking instead a turn to the right on immigration and social issues. After years of deflation, Japan is now grappling with rising prices, something that has sparked public anger and fuelled support for oppositions groups including the far-right Sanseito party.