Japan to be governed by a woman for the first time
Japan has its first female prime minister: Sanae Takaichi, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who is seen as a staunch conservative and nationalist, received a clear majority of votes in the lower house of the country's parliament on Tuesday. Takaichi (64) wants to form a government with the right-wing opposition party JIP. Commentators discuss what changes lie ahead for the country.
End of the trend towards more openness
The Berliner Morgenpost sees Takaichi's election as a historic step, not just because she is a woman:
“But because she is strictly conservative on several socio-political issues - she is against gay marriage, against the possibility of a female empress and in favour of the obligation for married couples to use the same surname. Sanae Takaichi will try to lead Japan further to the right after years of the country becoming more open in terms of social and migration policy. Takaichi is known as a nationalist who has regularly downplayed Japan's wartime past. ... And she has repeatedly made digs at people from abroad, promising to be strict on migration issues. So these days Takaichi stands for a reversal of trend.”
Conservative equality
The Times is hopeful that Takaichi will champion greater equality, even if it's not for feminist reasons:
“As both a nationalist and a pragmatist, she should nudge Japan towards gender equality. Its birth rate has collapsed: its population shrank by nearly a million last year. One reason is that being a mother is too much like hard work. Japanese women do four times as much housework and caring for children and older people as men. Ms Takaichi, along with many Japanese people, is against increasing immigration to keep the numbers up. If she wants Japan to remain a great power, she must strive to make life better for its women.”