During his visit to Japan on Monday, former President Donald Trump praised Sanae Takaichi, who recently became Japan’s first female prime minister. Known for her unique mix of staunch conservatism and a rock-and-roll flair, Takaichi draws her political inspiration from former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Takaichi, aged 64, assumed office earlier this month after Shigeru Ishiba stepped down following the Liberal Democratic Party’s loss of its majority in the upper house in July.

Renowned for her firm stances on defense and social issues, Takaichi faces her first major diplomatic challenge with Trump’s visit. The agenda for their discussions includes regional security, trade, and Japan’s defense budget—topics where their perspectives largely converge.

On October 21, 2025, lawmakers in Tokyo’s lower house session applauded Sanae Takaichi after she became Japan’s inaugural female prime minister. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

“She’s a hawk on China, and that’s precisely what’s needed at the moment,” remarked Gordon Chang, an author and Asia analyst, during an interview with Fox News Digital. “This stance won’t unsettle President Trump; rather, it will bolster his negotiations with Xi Jinping by demonstrating that alliances are robust and strengthening.”

Chang said the meeting comes at a critical time for regional stability.

“America’s alliance relationship with South Korea is in danger because Lee Jae-myung … is very pro-China and very anti-American,” he added. “That makes it even more important that our relationship with Japan gets stronger — which it will under Takaichi. Things were going very well with Japan, and I think that Takaichi is going to continue Japanese policies, so this will be important.”

Sanae Takaichi, now Japan’s prime minister, is seen playing drums in Tokyo on Sept. 24, 2021, when she was the internal affairs minister. (Kyodo via Reuters)

From small-town roots to heavy metal

Takaichi’s rise is remarkable in a party long dominated by political dynasties. Born in Nara Prefecture to a police officer mother and a father who worked for a car company affiliated with Toyota, she often describes herself as an outsider in Japan’s elite political world.

Left: Newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. Right: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher attends a British-French meeting with President François Mitterrand in the United Kingdom, May 5, 1990.  (Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo/ Georges De Keerle/Getty Images)

Before entering politics, she channeled her energy into music — playing drums in a heavy metal band during her youth, performing songs by Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. She reportedly still keeps an electronic drum kit in her Tokyo residence and plays with headphones to unwind after work. Takaichi was also known in her younger years as an avid motorcycle rider.

In early remarks, Takaichi said she admired Thatcher’s “strong character and convictions” and that she met the former British leader at a symposium shortly before Thatcher’s death in 2013.

The combination of a conservative politician with a rock-and-roll past — Japan’s first female prime minister behind a drum kit and once on a bike — has helped shape her public image as both disciplined and unconventional.

A hawk on China, an heir to Abe

President Donald Trump, meeting the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Akasaka Palace during his first-term as president in Tokyo on May 27, 2019.  (Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

Takaichi is widely described as an ideological heir to the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, aligning with his push to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution and boost the country’s defense capabilities. Her economic policy continues much of Abe’s “Abenomics,” emphasizing fiscal expansion and monetary easing — a contrast to Thatcher-style austerity. Yet her assertive tone and ideological discipline echo the British prime minister she idolizes.

At home, Takaichi holds staunchly traditional views. She opposes same-sex marriage, rejects allowing separate surnames for married couples and supports the imperial family’s male-only succession, according to The Associated Press.

The two leaders are expected to meet later tonight in Tokyo.