, Columnist
Will Sanae Takaichi Be Japan’s Thatcher, or Its Truss?
Sanae Takaichi must rein in her more reckless tendencies.
Photographer: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool/Getty Images
Japan is set to have its first-ever woman leader in Sanae Takaichi. She wants to become the country’s version of her idol, Margaret Thatcher. Some fear she might be its Liz Truss1.
Having won the race to head the Liberal Democratic Party, she’s the presumptive next prime minister of Japan2. But she faces one of the most challenging jobs in politics: reuniting a party in danger of crumbling, tackling voters’ dissatisfaction with inflation, and managing a newly fractious relationship with its security guarantor, the US. No pressure.