Why Japan’s first female PM is winning hearts – even with scandal-hit cabinet

Sanae Takaichi has made a strong debut as Japan’s first female prime minister, with early polls showing widespread public confidence in her leadership – despite her decision to appoint several politicians who have been embroiled in scandal.

A Yomiuri Shimbun survey released this week found 71 per cent of respondents backed her administration, climbing to 80 per cent among voters aged 18 to 39.

That places Takaichi’s debut as the fifth most popular of any new government since 1978 – surpassing even the first Shinzo Abe cabinet in 2006.

A separate Kyodo News poll put support at 64.4 per cent – still comfortably higher than the 50.7 per cent approval Shigeru Ishiba received when he took office just over a year ago.

Observers say the figures highlight both optimism over Takaichi’s leadership and a willingness among voters to move on from the scandals that felled her predecessors.

  

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