Overview
- Lawmakers in both chambers elected Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday, making her Japan’s first female prime minister after lower and upper house votes of 237–149 and 125–46.
- The LDP–Japan Innovation bloc remains a minority in both houses and cannot pass budgets or major bills without backing from other parties or independents.
- Party strategists are weighing outreach to independents and potential defectors, and analysts say a snap lower-house election is possible if coalition election coordination can be arranged.
- Takaichi installed a 19-member cabinet with only two women, naming Satsuki Katayama as the country’s first female finance minister and Kimi Onoda as economic security minister.
- President Trump is scheduled to visit Tokyo within days, with talks expected to touch on defense ties and a recent deal lowering U.S. tariffs to 15 percent in exchange for a planned $550 billion Japanese investment fund that Takaichi has said could be revisited if unfair.