Japan’s conservative leader bets big on Takaichi mania with snap election. Will her gamble pay off?

By Hanako Montgomery, CNN

Tokyo (CNN) — In scenes normally reserved for J-pop stars, thousands of fans huddle against the cold outside a small train station on the outskirts of Tokyo, their phones held high for a glimpse of Japan’s latest obsession.

Suddenly, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi steps out onto a concrete walkway, and a murmur of excitement ripples through the crowd that she hopes will transform into votes for her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) at a snap lower-house election on Sunday.

Takaichi called the election just three months into her premiership with a promise to step down if the LDP fails to secure a majority; a rare and risky move in Japan’s typically cautious political culture.

But Takaichi is no ordinary Japanese politician. Since taking power in October, the motorbike-riding heavy metal drummer with a savvy social media game has shaken the dust off the traditional male-dominated image of Japanese politics.

She’s even managed to win over US President Donald Trump, who’s blessed her with his “Complete and Total Endorsement” and an invitation to the White House next month – even before the outcome of this weekend’s vote.

But it’s the people at home who matter, and Takaichi is finding huge swells of support among younger voters who she’s reaching online with short clips of succinct, slogan-ready lines, alongside viral videos of her meeting world leaders. Last month she even smashed out K-Pop hits with visiting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

Even small details of her daily life, from the bag she carries to the pen she uses, are closely followed, reinforcing a carefully cultivated image of a leader close to the public.

In her hometown of Nara, souvenir shops sell towels emblazoned with her slogans, key chains, stationery, even cookies bearing her likeness alongside that of her political idol, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Two 20-year-old students tell CNN it was Takaichi’s smile that first drew them in. They don’t call her “Prime Minister” or even “Ms. Takaichi,” but “Sana-chan,” deploying an affectionate suffix usually reserved for close friends. One proudly notes she uses the same pen as the prime minister.

“It makes me feel closer to her,” she says.

“Compared to the previous prime minister, you see a lot of posts on social media showing how hard she’s working,” Yuho Oishi adds. “I see young people starting to get interested in politics because of that.”

Social media has been used by politicians worldwide to tap younger voters. But in a society like Japan, where the population tilts towards older generations, it’s become a point of distinction for an ambitious political player like Takaichi.

“Young people make full use of social media, and they find that appealing,” says Takaichi’s secretary Noboru Kinoshita. “That’s where we’re focusing our efforts.”

And it appears to be working.

Takaichi’s approval ratings are strikingly high, ranging from more than 50% to over 80% for people in their 20s in some polls, levels unseen in years and the envy of recent prime ministers.

The contrast with her party could hardly be sharper. For years, the LDP has been weighed down by election losses, stubborn inflation and political scandals, which have eroded public trust even as its new leader’s popularity surges.

Kinoshita has known Takaichi for over 30 years and credits her appeal to her communication style, describing how she personally drafts her answers for parliamentary budget hearings. “She explains policy in her own words, in a way that’s easy to understand,” he said.

The strategy is familiar. Charismatic leaders who mobilize younger voters have reshaped politics elsewhere. Though youth turnout is typically low in Japan, Takaichi’s rise has injected rare excitement into a demographic long disenchanted with national politics.

But even with older voters, Takaichi is highly popular.

Satoshi Uchiyama, who volunteered to hand out campaign flyers at her rallies, admires Takaichi’s strong stance on defense, which he considers to be a national priority at a time of geopolitical uncertainty.

“Japan has this aversion to having a military or possessing military power ever since losing a war. But now, with issues like China, North Korea, and Russia, I think it’s deeply unsettling for us as citizens,” he said.

Takaichi is a long-time conservative, closely aligned with nationalist and traditionalist causes.

A prominent member of the ultranationalist Nippon Kaigi lobby, she supports patriotic education and has advocated revising Japan’s pacifist constitution, including Article 9, which renounces war.

“From their perspective, the LDP had become too moderate under the last two prime ministers,” said Rintaro Nishimura, a Tokyo-based senior associate at The Asia Group, a consulting firm.

Her policy direction, though, remains unclear. She floated cutting the 8% consumption tax on food, a proposal that drew swift criticism from economists and was later dropped from campaign speeches.

Her openness to higher government spending and remarks signaling tolerance for a weaker yen have unsettled markets, while tensions with China, Japan’s most important trading partner, continue to loom after her November comments that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could trigger a Japanese military response.

“The effects of Takaichi’s comments … haven’t fully appeared yet,” said Hajime Kidera, a professor at Meiji University’s School of Political Science and Economics. “But as they do, more people may begin questioning whether Japan’s economy can really be entrusted to her leadership.”

For now, those doubts have done little to dent her standing. As voters head to the polls on Sunday, Takaichi is wagering that her carefully cultivated popularity will be enough to deliver her party a majority and buy her time until the next election in 2027.

By then, voters will have had years, not months, to judge whether her leadership rests on substance, not just star power.

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