Tag - sanae-takaichi

 
 

SANAE TAKAICHI

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday about his candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2025
Hayashi pledges to carry on Ishiba and Kishida’s work if elected LDP president
The chief cabinet secretary, who served under both prime ministers, says he will follow their lead as well as add initiatives of his own.
Agricultural minister Shinjiro Koizumi was the most favored candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party's next president, a Jiji survey found.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2025
Agriculture minister Koizumi most favored for LDP chief, poll finds
Koizumi was favored by 23.8% of respondents, while 21% backed former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi.
Polls suggest a head-to-head contest in the Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential race, but powerbrokers may sideline veteran contenders to engineer a youth-versus-youth showdown that could reshape both the party and Japan’s political landscape.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 18, 2025
Whiteboarding the LDP election
As I whiteboard the election scenarios, Koizumi vs. Takaichi is the most obvious race.
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi announces his bid for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidency in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 16, 2025
In LDP leadership bid, Kobayashi touts ‘moderate’ stance as selling point
Kobayashi pledged to make Japan a tech powerhouse again, boost defense spending and push through a generational change in the LDP if elected party chief.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announces his intention to resign during a news conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo on Sept. 7. The Japanese leader decided to step down following weeks of calls for his departure in the aftermath of a second national election setback. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 16, 2025
Can anyone save the fracturing Liberal Democratic Party?
This is shaping up to be an even less predictable race than the last one, when Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pulled off a surprise victory.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2025
Koizumi and Takaichi seen running ahead in race for LDP member votes
In last year's LDP leadership election, Takaichi secured the highest number of party member votes at 109.
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi speaks in Tokyo on Thursday. He is attempting to become Liberal Democratic Party president for the second time.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 12, 2025
Will a more conservative leader emerge from the LDP presidential election?
Conservative members of the party are looking to elect such a leader, but there is a possibility that their votes might be split between two presidential hopefuls.
Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, in Tokyo on Nov. 1, 2024
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 10, 2025
Who might the LDP woo once it elects its next president?
Short of a majority in both chambers of parliament, the ruling party needs an opposition party’s support to elect its leader as prime minister.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba holds a news conference on Sunday in Tokyo where he announced his resignation.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 10, 2025
The Liberal Democratic Party’s internal coup is complete
Ishiba came into the prime ministership last year with the odds already stacked against him. The LDP was a fractured party with waning public support.
Sanae Takaichi speaks before a runoff election at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election on Sept. 27, 2024, in Tokyo. She has yet to go public about a potential entry into the race this year.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2025
LDP to pick next party leader through 'full-scale vote'
Campaigning for the presidency will kick off on Sept. 22, with a final vote on Oct. 4.
Candidates for Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election stand together on stage before a debate in Tokyo in September 2024. Pictured are future Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Yoshimasa Hayashi, Sanae Takaichi, Shinjiro Koizumi and others. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 9, 2025
Ishiba’s resignation triggers a battle for the soul of the LDP
To become the next prime minister, the new LDP leader will also need to secure enough support from one or two of the other larger conservative opposition parties.
Shigeru Ishiba’s brief, tumultuous prime ministership weakened Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, alienated conservatives and left the party scrambling to find a new leader capable of restoring credibility.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 9, 2025
Japan deserves far better leadership than this
While the country is mostly back where it was a year ago, the LDP is in a much weaker position.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends the India-Japan Economic Forum in Tokyo on Friday, Aug. 29
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 4, 2025
Darkest hour for Ishiba amid pressure to quit and executive resignations
An offer by the secretary-general to resign after the party’s poor performance in a recent election has prompted Ishiba's LDP leadership team to call time on the administration.
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chairs a plenary session at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 27, 2025
Is Kishida plotting a return of the king? Or would he rather stay a kingmaker?
Since stepping down, the former prime minister and Liberal Democratic Party president has been raising his public profile and growing his social media presence.
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 22, 2025
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
With smaller, more ideologically unified parties gaining voter support, some critics say the LDP should split into different groups.
Onetime members of a now-defunct faction once led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are calling for the party to more actively promote conservative policies.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2025
Internal battle pits LDP's conservatives against liberals
Some in the party —mainly ex-members of the now-defunct Abe faction — are calling for it to more actively advertise conservative policies.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 26, 2025
'#Ishiba don't quit': Unlikely support grows for embattled PM
Despite Ishiba insisting that he has not discussed his resignation with members of his Liberal Democratic Party, multiple reports say that it is just a matter of time.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, walks past a poster after meeting with party executives at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 24, 2025
Political turmoil continues as Ishiba’s fate hangs in the balance
While there are demands for the ruling party's leadership to resign, the weakening of past factional ties makes it hard for those opposing the prime minister to join forces.
Agriculture minister Taku Eto answers reporters questions at the at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 21, 2025
Why Ishiba pulled a 180 on the gaffe-stricken farm minister
Taku Eto is the first minister to fall since the Japanese leader formed his Cabinet last October
Aso serves as the head of the LDP's task force on Japan’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2025
Conservative heavyweights join forces in LDP panel on Indo-Pacific
The panel has prompted speculation it could serve as an occasion to coalesce support against the government in the upcoming months.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’