The country’s first female PM is the object of a personality cult revolving around everything from her outfits and snacks to her favourite pink pen
When the LDP’s conservative wing forced a leadership election to replace the embattled Ishiba in October last year, many expected his ally Shinjiro Koizumi – the young, telegenic son of a previous prime minister – to win.
Instead, Japan’s party of government for most of the past seven decades took a gamble on his ultra-conservative rival, Sanae Takaichi, installing her as the country’s first female prime minister. If opinion polls are correct, that gamble is about to pay off in ways even her strongest allies could not have imagined.
In an eventful four months, Takaichi has met Donald Trump – who this week offered an endorsement and an invitation to the White House in March – as well as Xi Jinping and South Korea’s president, Lee Jae Myung. She sparked an unresolved row with Beijing over the future of Taiwan, spooked bond markets with promises of sweeping tax cuts, and faced fresh scrutiny over her links with the disgraced Unification church.
Despite the ups and downs, she has emerged as the LDP’s most effective weapon, the object of a personality cult revolving around everything from her choice of outfits and train journey snacks to the pink pen she uses to take notes in parliament.
It’s possible for both things to be true isn’t it?
Your source mentions that she is popular with young people but that her party is not popular with young people. It also mentions that young people don’t have a high voter turnout. With Japans aging population and the information in your link, that could still mean that she is popular with young people but the net effect from young voters is still tiny. I couldn’t find any good sources for actually breaking down the demographics of her popularity though.
Also, why do a hit on run on someone trying to answer a question, and not take a shot at the question itself, or let people know why you didn’t try to answer the question?
The earlier comment made it out to seem like it was just the older people who voted for her. Saying that young ones vote for her too is a good correction