Takaichi Is Officially Prime Minister. What Now for Japan’s ‘Iron Lady’?

By: Yuki Tatsumi | The Diplomat |

On October 21, Japan elected its first female prime minister. Takaichi Sanae, a former economic security minister and a protégé of the late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, was elected to be the 104th prime minister of Japan, breaking the ultimate glass ceiling.

Saying her road to the premiership was not easy would be an understatement. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1993 as an independent, Takaichi did not join the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) until 1996. She lost her seat in 2003. Even after she returned to the Diet in 2005, the fact that she was not originally from the LDP and belonged to one of its smaller factions meant she had limited visibility on the national stage.

Her meteoric rise in LDP did not begin until 2011 when she voted for Abe to be the LDP leader and then prime minister. Takaichi was then appointed to major Cabinet and LDP leadership positions by Abe, breaking the “glass ceiling” each and every time. However, even after she became known as Abe’s protégé, and his chosen successor, she was unsuccessful in her first two bids for the LDP presidency. It took a third try for Takaichi to finally break through.

Read the full article on The Diplomat.