Sanae Takaichi Appointed as First Female Prime Minister On the afternoon of the 21st, both houses of the Japanese Diet held a prime minister designation election in a plenary session, and appointed Sanae Takaichi (64), the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, as the 104th prime minister. This marks the first time in constitutional history that a woman has become prime minister of Japan. Takaichi, a conservative, who has called the late Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom, her "admired person," took over as prime minister amidst rising living costs and growing public dissatisfaction. After completing the prime minister's appointment ceremony at the Imperial Palace that evening, Takaichi held her first press conference as prime minister from 10 p.m., expressing her determination to "never give up on building a strong Japan." "To protect Japan's national interests, we will restore Japanese diplomacy to flourish at the center of the world. Japan faces a major crisis from within and without. There is no time to stand still. We will work fearlessly and boldly, with all our might, to bring about change. From day one, we will work at full speed, top speed, and we will have the cabinet ministers fulfill their respective missions," she said. In the prime minister designation election, Takaichi secured a majority in the first round of voting in the House of Representatives and was appointed prime minister. In the House of Councillors, she fell one vote short of a majority (124 votes) with 123 votes in the first round, and was appointed prime minister after a runoff election with Yoshihiko Noda (44 votes) of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Takaichi was elected as the LDP president on the 4th of this month, in her third attempt, following the resignation of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in September. Although she was expected to become the next prime minister within the framework of the "LDP-Komeito coalition government," Komeito, which had been in a cooperative relationship for 26 years, announced its withdrawal from the coalition on the 10th. The political situation became chaotic, and the "separation of the president and prime minister," where the LDP president and the prime minister were different, continued. Due to Komeito's withdrawal from the coalition, the LDP (196 seats in the House of Representatives, 101 seats in the House of Councillors) alone was 37 seats short of a majority in the House of Representatives (233 seats) and 23 seats short of a majority in the House of Councillors (124 seats), making it impossible to win the prime minister designation election if the opposition parties united. In the midst of this, the LDP officially agreed to form a coalition government with the Japan Innovation Party (35 seats in the House of Representatives, 19 seats in the House of Councillors) on the 20th. Furthermore, it was reported that three members of the House of Representatives belonging to the "Yushi-Kaikaku no Kai" (Association of Volunteers and Reform), a House of Representatives group consisting of independent members, were expected to vote for Takaichi in the prime minister designation election, increasing the likelihood of Takaichi being elected in the first round of voting in the House of Representatives. To commemorate this, why not preserve this newspaper? It will likely become more valuable as time passes. You cannot buy time with money. We will cover the shipping costs.