{"id":93899,"date":"2025-10-22T08:28:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T08:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/93899\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T08:28:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T08:28:12","slug":"sanae-takaichi-japans-first-female-prime-minister-is-a-heavy-metal-drummer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/93899\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s First Female Prime Minister, Is a Heavy Metal Drummer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japan has just elected its first female Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, whom the BBC dubbed as the country\u2019s new \u201cIron Lady,\u201d in reference to Takaichi\u2019s outspoken respect for Margaret Thatcher \u2014 the UK\u2019s original \u201cIron Lady.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nickname could also refer to the fact that Takaichi, 64, is a noted fan of British heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple. She\u2019s also a longtime amateur drummer, playing in a metal band in college, and grew up with a love of riding Kawasaki motorcycles, per a profile on CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To this day, she still picks up her sticks and gets behind an electronic kit whenever she needs to relieve stress. \u201cI play after [my husband] goes to sleep,\u201d she quipped in a recent interview. However, she gave up motorcycles when she was 32 to avoid accidents that could hinder her work.<\/p>\n

Related Video<\/p>\n

Takaichi might not have as much time for drumming after being elected as Japan\u2019s first female Prime Minister on Tuesday. A prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of Shinzo Abe, Japan\u2019s longest-serving prime minister, who was assassinated in 2022, Takaichi is now the leader of the traditionalist, male-dominated Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).<\/p>\n

According to The New York Times<\/a>, Takaichi belongs to the right wing side of the LDP is expected to shift Japan further in that direction while also winning back conservative voters who have embraced the far-right Sanseito party.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have received particularly harsh criticism from our core supporters, conservatives, and party members,\u201d she said in a speech after winning the first round of voting, via the BBC<\/a>. \u201cThe LDP must change for the sake of Japan\u2019s present and future. We will always put the national interest first and manage the country with a sense of balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since joining the LDP, Takaichi has been re-elected nine times according to CNN. She\u2019s held multiple cabinet posts, including some on gender equality and demographic issues, and chaired the party\u2019s Policy Research Council. Most recently, she served as minister of economic security under the administration of Fumio Kishida. Her election as Prime Minister comes after her third attempt.<\/p>\n

An immediate test for Ms. Takaichi will be dealing with the uncertainty of Japan\u2019s military and economic alliance with the United States. She is expected to meet next week in Tokyo with US President Donald Trump, according to The New York Times.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, critics have maintained that Takaichi, despite her unconventional rise in the male-dominated landscape of Japanese politics, has a mixed record on women\u2019s rights. She opposes allowing married women to keep separate surnames, and resists female succession in the imperial family. However, her 2025 campaign did propose tax breaks for babysitting and corporate incentives for in-house childcare, hinting at a shift toward more women-friendly policies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Japan has just elected its first female Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, whom the BBC dubbed as the country\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-93899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}