By: Josef Herman Wenas
She has just triumphed in an all-male contest to become Japan’s first-ever female prime minister — in a country not exactly renowned for its progressive attitudes toward gender equality.
The historical weight of Margaret Thatcher’s legacy means that any woman rising to the top of political power inevitably invites comparison. But does the parallel stand up?
Like Thatcher, Sanae Takaichi is a staunch conservative from a modest background, assuming leadership amid political and economic turbulence. She is Japan’s fourth prime minister in just five years — a reflection of the nation’s chronic leadership turnover.
Takaichi inherits an economy struggling with inflation, sluggish growth, and public frustration over rising living costs and migration. Meanwhile, a resurgent populist right adds further pressure. On defense, she is as hawkish as the Iron Lady herself.
Since the Second World War, Japan has maintained a pacifist posture, but Takaichi’s frequent visits to the Yasukuni Shrine — which honors both war victims and convicted war criminals — have stirred regional unease. Her vocal support for Taiwan has also drawn Beijing’s ire.
Could a confrontation over that contested island become her version of the Thatcher’s Falklands?
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Yet one major divergence separates her from Thatcher: economic policy. Whereas Thatcher championed monetarism — reining in the money supply to curb inflation — Takaichi subscribes to the late Shinzo Abe’s economic doctrine (so-called Abenomics), favoring aggressive fiscal spending and stronger government influence over the central bank.
She has already voiced opposition to higher interest rates, a stance likely to keep the yen weak against the dollar. That could exacerbate living costs and undermine the Bank of Japan’s inflation target of 2%.
Markets, however, have responded positively so far. The Nikkei index has hovered near record highs since her election, though this may reflect a short-term “stability premium” more than genuine economic optimism.
In essence, Takaichi’s brand of conservatism may not echo Thatcher’s monetarist rigor.
If Thatcherism were to be embodied in Indonesia’s political lexicon as a blend of “Jokowi/Prabowo and Sri Mulyani,” then Takaichi’s model seems closer to a fusion of “Prabowo and Purbaya” — a pragmatic conservatism with a statist economic edge.
-JHW
