Can Japan's first female PM, ultra conservative Sanae Takaichi, tighten her grip on power?

Japan is holding a snap election on Sunday, in the first electoral test for the country's first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, since she became leader.

Her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is projected to win a decisive mandate, thanks to the "sanamania" among younger voters who idolise the 64-year-old leader, her favourite pink pen and her rice cracker snacks.

A recent poll suggests about 90% of voters under 30 support Ms Takaichi, while her overall popularity stands at around 60%. Her personal approval ratings are almost double that of her party, according to a new poll by public broadcaster NHK.

Known for being ultra-conservative on social issues such as gender and sexual diversity, Ms Takaichi hopes to win back voters who flocked to emerging populist parties in recent elections.

So who is the PM, why is she so popular, and what has she done to enflame tensions with China?

Japan's 'Iron Lady'

A protege of late prime minister Shinzo Abe, Ms Takaichi was elected by the LDP as their new leader in October, making her country's first female prime minister, leading a governing coalition with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party (JIP).

The presidential election came after her LDP predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, was forced to step down due to significant losses in the 2024 lower house and 2025 upper house elections. Analysts said the LDP's failed economic policies and political corruption were behind the loss in voter support.

This was her third bid for leadership of the LDP, after attempts in 2024 and 2021.

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During her most recent campaign, Ms Takaichi, whose mother was a police officer and father worked at a car company, said she wanted to become the "Iron Lady" - a homage to Margaret Thatcher, the daughter of a Grantham grocer who became Britain's first female prime minister.

Ms Takaichi was first elected to parliament as an independent in 1993 to represent the constituency that includes her hometown of Nara, before briefly joining the liberal New Frontier Party in 1994 and then moving to the LDP, when it won the general election in 1996.

She has taken on several roles within her party and in government over the last three decades, including minister of economic security, internal affairs, and gender equality.

What are her politics?

Ms Takaichi has called for a stronger military, more fiscal spending for growth, promotion of nuclear fusion, cybersecurity and tougher policies on immigration.

She supports the imperial family's male-only succession and opposes same-sex marriage and a law allowing wives to have separate surnames from their husbands.

The new prime minister has stuck with old-fashioned views favoured by male LDP heavyweights, backing financial support for women's health and fertility treatments as part of her party's policy of having women serve in traditional roles of being good mothers and wives.

But she also recently talked about her struggles with menopausal symptoms and stressed the need to educate men about female health to help women at school and work.

Ms Takaichi is a wartime history revisionist and China hawk who recently enflamed tensions with Beijing over her remarks on Taiwan.

In November, she appeared to suggest that Japan could become involved if China takes military action against Taiwan, a self-governing island Beijing considers part of its territory, as this would qualify as "an existential threat". In retaliation, China increased economic and diplomatic retribution.

Endorsed by Trump and friends with Meloni

US President Donald Trump who is trying to maintain a fragile trade truce with China, asked Ms Takaichi not to further aggravate Beijing in a private phone call in November, sources told Reuters.

But he had already endorsed her leadership during his visit to Japan in October. He said he was looking forward to hosting her at the White House in March after lauding Ms Takaichi for breaking Japan's glass ceiling.

She appears to have found a political best friend in fellow right-wing populist Giorgia Meloni after singing happy birthday to the Italian prime minister and presenting her with cake and gifts during a meeting in Tokyo last month.

The women snapped a selfie together - with Ms Meloni later posting an anime version next to the caption: "Two distant nations, but ever closer. Friendship and harmony."

The pair shared a long hug as they said goodbye, with the Italian prime minister telling her Japanese counterpart: "Count always on me, okay? For whatever you need. I know it's not easy but we'll do it together."

Why is she so popular with young voters?

A drummer in a heavy-metal band and a motorbike rider as a student, Ms Takaichi has built a large social media following that tops any of her rivals, with 2.6 million followers on X compared to about 64,000 for Yoshihiko Noda, the leader of Japan's main opposition party.

Many of her posts have gone viral, including clips of her drumming to the hit song Golden from Netflix's K-Pop Demon Hunters film alongside South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, or her serenading Ms Meloni.

Her upbeat image has earned her strong approval ratings.

"She has a clear, decisive way of speaking," Takeo Fujimura, a 24-year-old clerical worker, said. "She communicates in a bright, positive way and I think that energy resonates with young people."

Her personal style has also been praised by fans, who rushed to snap up the £660 black leather bag Ms Takaichi regularly carries, causing a nine-month backlog at the brand Hamano.

There is a similar hype around the pink ballpoint pen she uses for note taking in parliament and the shrimp rice crackers she has been spotted holding while travelling by train.

But some analysts question whether enough young people will actually go and vote for Ms Takaichi, as younger people have historically been less likely to vote than older generations that had helped the LDP to a near-unbroken post-war rule in Japan but are not the guarantee of power they once were.

Why has she called an election?

Ms Takaichi's call for this month's snap election in January has been seen as an attempt to capitalise on her strong approval ratings of around 70% to help her beleaguered governing party gain more seats.

Polls show that the LDP could capture around 300 seats in the 465-seat lower house - the more powerful of the parliamentary chambers.

This would be a major improvement on the current razor-thin majority the LDP and its coalition partner JIP have in the lower house after losing many seats in 2024 and being defeated in the upper house election last July.

The LDP and JIP are hoping they can secure a supermajority of more than two-thirds, which would give Ms Takashi's coalition the ability to push through legislation even if it doesn't secure enough votes in the upper house.

In December, Ms Takichi's cabinet approved a record 122.3 trillion yen (£565 billion) budget that needs parliamentary approval before the upcoming fiscal year starting April to fund measures to fight inflation, support low-income households and projects to help economic growth.

Winning the election would help her pass this budget after opposition leaders criticised her for delaying it with the snap election.

Polling and media reports suggest that some voters have not been convinced by Ms Takaichi and her party, as her promised fiscal largesse has been partly credited for the yen sliding.

But opposition groups in Japan are seen as too splintered to win an election, with several polls putting Ms Takaichi's party and coalition partner firmly in the lead.

(c) Sky News 2026: Can Japan's first female PM, ultra conservative Sanae Takaichi, tighten her grip on power?