Japan elects first female leader, an ultra-conservative

[Morphine Prince 109,683]

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s parliament elected ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi as the country’s first female prime minister Tuesday, a day after her struggling party struck a coalition deal with a new partner expected to pull her governing bloc further to the right.

Takaichi replaces Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the Liberal Democratic Party’s disastrous election loss in July.

Ishiba, who lasted only one year as prime minister, resigned with his Cabinet earlier in the day, paving the way for his successor.

Takaichi won 237 votes — four more than a majority — compared to 149 won by Yoshikoko Noda, the head of the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. The vote took place in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two chambers of parliament and the one that chooses the prime minister.

As the results were announced, Takaichi stood up and bowed deeply.

A first, but not a feminist

While Takaichi made history by becoming the first leader of a country where men still largely hold sway, she has not promoted gender equality or diversity.

An admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is among the Japanese politicians who have stonewalled measures for women’s advancement. She supports the imperial family’s male-only succession and opposes same-sex marriage and allowing separate surnames for married couples.

And despite a pledge to drastically increase the number of women in the Cabinet, she appointed only two woman ministers — Satsuki Katayama as finance minister and Kimi Onoda as economic security minister.

Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/japans-parliament-elects-ultraconservative-sanae-takaichi-as-nations-first-female-prime-minister

 

 

 

 

[Bronco 25,143]

Japan never really got over the loss of it's Imperial age and its not surprising that the second the US turns fascist, the Japanese are focusing on rebuilding what they lost in WW2. 

[Lucas 31,135]

So many countries in the world suddenly turning ultra-conservative just cannot be a coincidence...

[27monster27 15,872]

2 hours ago, Bronco said:

Japan never really got over the loss of it's Imperial age and its not surprising that the second the US turns fascist, the Japanese are focusing on rebuilding what they lost in WW2. 

Yeah. Unlike Germany (who is even struggling as well) Japan never truly made supporting it's most violent ideology illegal like with the n@zi party and Italian fascism.

Edited October 24, 2025 by 27monster27

[Bronco 25,143]

7 minutes ago, 27monster27 said:

Yeah. Unlike Germany (who is even struggling as well) Japan never truly made supporting it's most violent ideology illegal like with that n@zi party and Italian fascism.

Yeah, the rise of the PRC and communism more generally in East Asia meant the Americans prioritised stabilising Japan as a bastion in the region and the quickest way to achieve that stability was to essentially reinstall the previous elite but with them forcibly allied.

Plus the atomic bombing of Japan did a lot to alter perceptions about who the "big bad" was. Because it was far more common knowledge than the Japanese war crimes at that point.

[Economy 52,861]

2 hours ago, Lucas said:

So many countries in the world suddenly turning ultra-conservative just cannot be a coincidence...

The world really needs to stop importing American culture...

 

They say services, machinery and petro-chemicals is the USAs biggest export but really its actually stupidity

[27monster27 15,872]

4 minutes ago, Bronco said:

Yeah, the rise of the PRC and communism more generally in East Asia meant the Americans prioritised stabilising Japan as a bastion in the region and the quickest way to achieve that stability was to essentially reinstall the previous elite but with them forcibly allied.

And all this is gonna do is make the situation between China and Japan worse. These countries have never rekindled their relations after the first half of the 1900s (did they ever have truly positive relations?), and putting in a politician that could look favorably on imperial Japan is gonna aggravate China for sure.

6 minutes ago, Bronco said:

Plus the atomic bombing of Japan did a lot to alter perceptions about who the "big bad" was. Because it was far more common knowledge than the Japanese war crimes at that point.

And then there is this. The nuclear bombings completely changed Japans perspective on many things. I mean, the fact that one of their most recognizable franchises, Godzilla, is rooted in this speaks volumes.

[Lord Mayhem 3,430]

Democracy is dying before our eyes and it's sad af...

Where is this world headed...can 3i Atlas please just beam me up already...

[PaperIz 7,354]

I feel like a similar thing will happen if we ever get a woman as president in the US. The world is so scary rn.

[Hydrangea 7,904]

Even women can be fascists these days! Look at all the progress we’ve made 

[Ladle Ghoulash 53,178]

2 hours ago, Economy said:

The world really needs to stop importing American culture...

 

They say services, machinery and petro-chemicals is the USAs biggest export but really its actually stupidity

Imagine thinking conservatism is a US export when the US’ modern version of far right authoritarianism is just a patchwork of Orban/Putin/Nazi ideology lmao 

[AsleepOnTheCeiling 6,974]

22 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Imagine thinking conservatism is a US export when the US’ modern version of far right authoritarianism is just a patchwork of Orban/Putin/Nazi ideology lmao 

I mean globalization did a lot to world culture and social media also helped usher that in. A lot of money from US pockets financed these movements, and a lot of it also comes from the US political book. I feel the US was a guinea pig for radicalization and it was tweaked to each country's culture and past. You can see the amount of foreign trips a lot of the Republican strategists made in the past few years, that's probably most prominent with Musk in international news. 

[Economy 52,861]

1 hour ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Imagine thinking conservatism is a US export when the US’ modern version of far right authoritarianism is just a patchwork of Orban/Putin/Nazi ideology lmao 

That may be true but the recent radicalization of some conservatives for THIS generation feels very US Media driven including influencers/podcast influencing everyone WW 

 

If theres 1 thing the US probably has more power in than anything else (maybe more than military or econonic power) is cultural power

 

No one dominates media and entertainment in developed world more than the US. I dont just say this as a Canadian whose culture is 80% the same as the US and Media at least 75% American because you could argue Canada is special in that respect cuz were next door neighbours

 

I also say this as a former Portuguese resident across the atlantic that everytime i go back i hear more US artists on radio than Portuguese music. Most movie on TV are also hollywood abd of course the social media networks everyone uses is American

 

 

Edited October 24, 2025 by Economy

[Cssomeone 1,717]

Just goes to show that ONLY taking diversity/inclusion into consideration doesn't always mean the best option 

There is a Brazilian politician who is a lesbian, but is against LGBT laws and rights. Go figure

Edited October 24, 2025 by Cssomeone

[BornAsUnic0rn 2,247]

4 hours ago, PaperIz said:

I feel like a similar thing will happen if we ever get a woman as president in the US. The world is so scary rn.

Almost evey first female leader of major (western) countries was conservative. I still stand by what I said in 2016: If America wasn‘t able to elect the overqualified centrist Hilary Clinton over a morally bankrupt TV host, the only possible chance for a female US president is a female Republican in a race against a highly unpopular Democrat, most likely also in a minority position.