As a young woman in the late 1970s, Sanae Takaichi commuted six hours a day by bus and train from her parents\u2019 home in western Japan to attend university. She was a fan of heavy metal music and Kawasaki motorcycles who yearned to move out. But her mother insisted at first that she stay home, forbidding her from living in a boardinghouse before marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI dreamed of having my own castle,\u201d Ms. Takaichi wrote in a 1992 memoir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Tuesday, Ms. Takaichi won election as Japan\u2019s prime minister, the first woman to do so in the nation\u2019s history. It was the pinnacle of an improbable rise in politics and a milestone in a country where women have long struggled for influence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> Breaking News: Sanae Takaichi is Japan\u2019s first female prime minister. She\u2019s a heavy metal drummer and hard-line conservative. https:\/\/t.co\/vfyRnftmfc<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/f17GPcm71o<\/a><\/p>— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 21, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>