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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Mari Yamaguchi

Japan's first female leader is an ultraconservative star from a male-dominated party

APTOPIX Japan Politics - (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Sanae Takaichi, a star of ultraconservative Japanese politics and a rare woman to rise in its male-dominated hierarchy, has been elected the country's first female prime minister.

Takaichi, 64, is also the first woman to lead the Liberal Democratic Party that has dominated Japan’s postwar politics almost without interruption.

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