Japan is set to have its first female prime minister after Sanae Takaichi won the leadership election of the Liberal Democratic Party on Oct. 4.
Takaichi, 64, defeated close contender Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, in a runoff vote.
She is expected to take more stringent measures against foreigners who flout the law. She has played to public concerns about a sharp influx of foreigners by claiming to have evidence of foreign tourists kicking deer in Nara Park.
She has represented the Nara No. 2 Lower House district for 10 terms, first winning election in 1993. Another first-time winner in that election was the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Takaichi and Abe developed close ties, due in part to their conservative views in many policy areas.
Takaichi served as state minister in charge of Okinawa and the Northern Territories in 2006 when Abe served his first stint as prime minister.
She was later internal affairs minister and LDP policy chief.
With strong backing from Abe, Takaichi first ran in the LDP presidential election in 2021, when Fumio Kishida won.
This was her third attempt
