Though her election is a milestone in a country that struggles with gender equality, critics say hard-line conservative Sanae Takaichi won’t necessarily help women advance.

Sanae Takaichi is the first woman chosen to serve as Japan's prime minister. She favors a strong military, a strong economy — and a strong drum riff.

During her time in the U.S., Takaichi “worked briefly in Washington for Patricia Schroeder, a feminist congresswoman from the Democratic Party,” said The Economist. She eventually won a seat in Japan’s legislature, the Diet, in 1993, and “found common cause with Shinzo Abe, the late prime minister, on the LDP’s right wing.”

Analysts are divided on whether Sanae Takaichi’s agenda will be as hardline in practice as her campaign rhetoric on immigration.

Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces significant foreign policy challenges just days after taking office

Japan's new prime minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to push for the accelerated revival of nuclear power to tackle inflation, a source of public discontent, with reactor restarts key to reducing costly fuel imports.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in her first major policy speech on Friday, pledged to further accelerate Japan’s military buildup and spending and complete an early upgrade of the country’s security strategy as tensions rise with China,

US President Donald Trump to arrive in Japan on Monday for 3-day visit, says Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara - Anadolu Ajansı