Sanae Takaichi Becomes Japan's 104th Prime Minister, the First Woman to Hold the Office
On October 21, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan, Liberal Democratic Party president Sanae Takaichi was elected prime minister in the House of Representatives designation vote that afternoon, receiving 237 votes, and was invested with the office by Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace in the evening, formally becoming Japan's 104th prime minister and the first woman to hold the office in Japanese history. The Takaichi Cabinet was inaugurated the same day.
Takaichi, 64, was born in Nara Prefecture and represents Nara's 2nd district in the House of Representatives. First elected to the House in 1993, she previously served as minister for internal affairs and communications and as minister in charge of economic security, among other posts, and won the LDP presidency earlier this month. After the long-standing LDP coalition with Komeito collapsed, the LDP formed a new ruling coalition with the Japan Innovation Party, which supports the Takaichi Cabinet from outside the cabinet without taking ministerial posts.
The cabinet list was announced by the new chief cabinet secretary, Minoru Kihara, and the cabinet was formally launched after the prime minister's investiture and the ministers' certification ceremony at the Imperial Palace. Satsuki Katayama became finance minister, the first woman to hold that post in Japan, Toshimitsu Motegi became foreign minister, and Shinjiro Koizumi became defense minister. At the first cabinet meeting that evening, Takaichi instructed her ministers to draw up economic measures to address rising prices. She calls her cabinet the Cabinet of Determination and Progress.
The new cabinet faces a full diplomatic schedule from the start: the ASEAN summit is near, President Trump is about to visit Japan, and the APEC summit follows. Takaichi said she intends to restore Japanese diplomacy to the center of the world stage, beginning by deepening her friendships with other national leaders and forging relationships of trust with them.
(Source: Prime Minister's Office of Japan)
Source: Prime Minister's Office of Japan
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：高市早苗2025年10月21日肖像。日本首相官邸，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Sanae Takaichi on October 21, 2025. Prime Minister's Office of Japan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
