‘Sana-mania’ grips Japan as Takaichi poised for election landslide

A report from Theguardian says Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic party is expected to win a momentous victory in this Sunday's lower house elections, a recovery that the article largely attributes to the appeal of Sanae Takaichi. When the LDP's conservative wing forced a leadership election last year the party installed Takaichi as the country's first female prime minister.

In four eventful months she has met Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and South Korea's president Lee Jae Myung, sparked an unresolved row with Beijing over Taiwan, spooked bond markets with promises of sweeping tax cuts and faced renewed scrutiny over links with the Unification church.

Takaichi has become the object of a personality-driven surge—from attention to her outfits and train snacks to a pink pen used in parliament—and has harnessed social media in a way few Japanese politicians have. Her official X account has more than 2.6 million followers, compared with 64,000 for the centrist co-leader Yoshihiko Noda, and items associated with her have sold out.

Japan