History is on the verge of being made in Japan, twice over.
As the nation prepares to welcome its first-ever female prime minister, another of the country’s highest and most formidable glass ceilings is set to be shattered.
Sanae Takaichi, the newly-elected leader of the ruling party, is reportedly set to tap Satsuki Katayama as the country’s first female finance minister, a landmark appointment that will place a woman at the helm of the world’s fourth-largest economy for the first time.
The appointment of the 66-year-old former Finance Ministry bureaucrat, first reported by local media including Kyodo News and the Asahi newspaper, is another powerful milestone for a nation that has long been criticized for its slow and often stubborn progress on gender equality.
A conservative maverick at the controls
But this is not a story of progressive triumph. Like Takaichi, who is poised to become prime minister in a parliamentary vote later on Tuesday, Katayama is a staunch conservative.
While she will be breaking new ground, her appointment is also a clear signal of the new prime minister’s economic and social agenda.
A 23-year veteran of the powerful Finance Ministry, where she was the first woman to hold a string of key positions, Katayama is nonetheless known for her support of expansionary fiscal policy, a stance that often puts her at odds with the ministry’s traditional focus on fiscal consolidation.
Last year, a ruling party panel she belongs to argued that government bond issuance should be viewed not as debt, but as “future-focused investment.”
In a recent interview, she also hinted that the current tax rate is not “immutable law,” a clear sign that she could be open to tax cuts.
This pro-stimulus stance will be a key signal for a market that is deeply concerned that the new administration will ramp up government spending and slow down the Bank of Japan’s path to raising interest rates.
A baptism by fire: The challenges ahead
If confirmed, Katayama will face an immediate baptism by fire. Her first and most pressing challenge will be to put together an extra budget to fund a new package of economic measures to support households and businesses.
The size of that stimulus package is now expected to be inflated, a direct result of the political horse-trading required to secure Takaichi’s own path to the premiership.
A graduate of the prestigious Tokyo University, Katayama first entered politics in 2005 as one of the so-called “Koizumi Children,” a group of 83 first-time lawmakers who were swept into office under the banner of the reformist Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Now, as she prepares to take on one of the most powerful and challenging roles in the country, her ascent is a powerful symbol of a nation in transition.
She may be a “common-sense conservative” who opposes same-sex marriage and separate surnames for married couples, but her presence at the very heart of Japanese power is a landmark moment, a quiet but profound revolution in a country that is slowly, and often reluctantly, beginning to change.
The post Japan set to have its first female finance minister: report appeared first on Invezz