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Forums - Politics - Japan set to elect its first female Prime Minister

Otter on 06 October 2025
NyanNyanNekoChan said:

I came across a BBC News YouTube video about this earlier today.
When I translated a few of the Japanese comments, it seemed that many folks weren’t happy with the BBC’s reporting for two main reasons:

A) Inaccuracies - Some mentioned biased coverage, stating the BBC misunderstood or misrepresented Takaichi’s comments about “work-life balance”
B) Focus on gender - Several folks criticised how overseas media tend to emphasise gender-related angles, saying it’s irrelevant and that the focus should be on policy instead

This sort of reaction is common when these milestones are reported but I think it misses the point. This is history. She could go on to be a terrible prime minister but none the less she was the first female one and there is a reason why that hasn't happened in the last 100 years. 

But for sure, she shouldn't necessarily be celebrated because she is a women but it certainly something to report on



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curl-6 on 21 October 2025

The Diet (Japanese parliament) has voted to approve her nomination, so it's now official, she is now the first woman to hold the title of Prime Minister in Japanese history:

https://www.economist.com/asia/2025/10/21/takaichi-sanae-becomes-japans-first-female-prime-minister