Economics

Japan Shifts to the Right Under ‘Iron Lady’ Admirer Takaichi

Sanae Takaichi

Photographer: Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images

Sanae Takaichi, the pro-stimulus conservative who has become Japan’s first female prime minister, is an energetic nationalist with a soft spot for the hard-nosed politics of Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher and the heavy metal music of Iron Maiden.

Takaichi broke the glass ceiling to become the nation’s leader after a parliamentary vote on Tuesday.