Takaichi Sanae

Is Takaichi Sanae the most powerful woman in the world? | The Economist

Takaichi Sanae

Sanae Takaichi became Japan's first female Prime Minister after securing an unprecedented LDP majority, launching an aggressive push to expand defense spending to 2% of GDP and revise the constitution to formalize military status. Her administration has explicitly abandoned strategic ambiguity by asserting that a Chinese attack on Taiwan constitutes a threat to Japan's essential interests, a move that triggered severe diplomatic retaliation and a tourism ban from Beijing. This hardened security posture aims to counter China's rapid military expansion and reduce reliance on the US alliance, though it creates significant domestic and international hurdles for her constitutional revision agenda.