Sane Takaichi: Japan’s First Female Prime Minister, Trump Visit Preview

President Donald Trump Sane offered words of praise for Takaichi – Japan’s first female prime minister – upon her arrival in Japan on Monday. Inspired by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi’s resume mixes her strong brand of conservatism with a rock-and-roll streak.

Takaichi, 64, took power earlier this month following the resignation of former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after the Liberal Democratic Party lost its upper house majority in July.

Known for her uncompromising views on defense and social issues, Trump’s visit will be her first major diplomatic test. The two leaders will discuss regional security, trade and Japan’s defense spending – areas where their views largely overlap.

Sanai Takai also became Japan’s first female Prime Minister, citing Thatcher’s inspiration

Lawmakers applaud Sane Takaichi after she was elected as Japan’s first female prime minister during a session of the Lower House in Tokyo on October 21, 2025. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

“She’s a hawk ChinaAnd that’s what’s needed right now,” Gordon Chang, author and Asia analyst, said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “That won’t upset President Trump — in fact, it will help him in his talks with Xi Jinping because he can say, ‘Look, the alliance is getting stronger and stronger.'”

Chang said the meeting is coming at a very important time for regional stability.

“US alliance relations with South Korea are at risk because Lee Jae-myung … is very pro-China and anti-American,” he added. “That makes it even more important that we deepen our relationship with Japan – which it will happen under Takaichi. Things were going very well in Japan, and I think Takaichi is going to continue Japanese policies, so that will be important.”

Sanai Takaichi, now Prime Minister of Japan, is seen playing drums in Tokyo on September 24, 2021, when she was Minister of Internal Affairs. (Kyodo via Reuters)

From small-town roots to heavy metal

Takaichi’s rise in a party dominated by political dynasties is remarkable. Born in Nara Prefecture to a police officer mother and a father who worked for a Toyota-affiliated car company, she often describes herself as an outsider in Japan’s elite political world.

Left: Newly elected Prime Minister Sane Takaichi arrives at the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan. Right: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher attends a British-French meeting with President Francois Mitterrand in the United Kingdom, May 5, 1990. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo/ Georges de Keerle/Getty Images)

Before entering politics, she channeled her energies into music — playing drums in heavy metal bands in her youth, performing songs by Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. She still keeps an electronic drum kit in her Tokyo residence and plays with headphones to relax after work. Takaichi was also known as an avid motorcycle rider in her younger years.

Japan has called China, Russia, North Korea the ‘biggest threat’ to the world order since World War II.

In opening remarks, Takaichi said she admired Thatcher’s “strong character and faith” and had met the former British leader at a seminar shortly before. Thatcher died in 2013.

The combination of Japan’s first female prime minister — a conservative politician with a rock-and-roll past — behind a drum kit and once on a bike has helped shape her public image as both disciplined and unconventional.

A bench on China, Abe’s successor

President Donald Trump meets with then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Akasaka Palace during his first term as president on May 27, 2019, in Tokyo. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

Takaichi is widely described as the late prime minister’s ideological heir Shinzo AbeAligned with his efforts to reform Japan’s pacifist constitution and boost the country’s defense capabilities. Her economic policy continues much of Abe’s “Abenomics,” with an emphasis on fiscal expansion and financial easing — the antithesis of Thatcher-style austerity. Yet her firm tone and ideological discipline are similar to those of the British prime minister she admires.

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At home, Takaichi maintains staunchly traditional views. She opposes same-sex marriage, refuses to allow married couples to have separate surnames and supports male-only succession to the royal family, according to the Associated Press.

The two leaders are likely to meet in Tokyo tonight.