Sanae Takaichi: Japan's First Female PM—Sisterhood or Patriotism On Korean Comfort Women?

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Japan finally elects its first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, and everyone is buzzing about shattering glass ceilings, but let’s be real, will this hawkish nationalist finally force Japan to face its comfort women skeletons, or will she just keep dodging like every PM before her?

As a woman stepping into power on October 21, 2025, you might think she’d empathize with the pain of sexual violence in war, but her track record screams politics over sisterhood, prioritizing revisionist history over reparations for the victims her country

The comfort women issue is no footnote; it’s a state-sponsored atrocity from World War II where the Imperial Japanese Army forced up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, China, and other occupied lands, into sexual slavery.

These women were abducted, deceived with job offers, or outright coerced into brothels, enduring daily rapes by soldiers as a twisted morale booster and tool of domination.

In South Korea alone, thousands suffered, stripped of dignity, health, and futures, all to break enemy spirits and assert control. Survivors have spent decades demanding justice, but Japan has waffled with partial apologies, like the 2015 agreement that fell flat amid denials of coercion.

Enter Takaichi, the ultraconservative who climbed the Liberal Democratic Party ranks with views that would make feminists cringe. She has pushed to scrub “self-deprecating” references to comfort women from textbooks, claiming no evidence of coercion, and even questioned their existence in a 2003 blog post.

Her regular Yasukuni Shrine visits, honoring war criminals alongside the dead, rub salt in old wounds for neighbors like South Korea. As PM, she is already signaling business as usual, meeting Xi Jinping and focusing on alliances, but historical accountability? Crickets so far, despite her gender supposedly bringing a fresh perspective.

The irony hits hard: Japan’s first woman leader opposes letting married women keep maiden names, blocks same-sex marriage, and favors male-only imperial succession. She tempered some edges during her campaign, but her core nationalism shines through, raising red flags for Seoul-Tokyo ties.

South Korea watches warily, fearing a rollback on warming relations, as Takaichi claims sovereignty over disputed islands and downplays wartime abuses. If she feels the pain as a woman, it is buried under layers of political expediency, where admitting full responsibility could alienate her base.

This dodging game is classic geopolitics, where powerful nations rewrite history to suit alliances. International law, from the Geneva Conventions to UN resolutions, demands recognition of sexual violence as war crimes, yet Japan hides behind semantics while victims die without closure.

Takaichi’s rise could be a turning point, but early signs point to more evasion, training missions with allies continuing amid ignored atrocities. Hypocrisy thrives: world leaders congratulate her milestone while muting calls for justice, turning “never again” into a punchline.

Until Takaichi breaks the cycle acknowledging coercion, funding genuine reparations, and integrating women’s voices into diplomacy, the comfort women legacy festers.

As PM, she holds the pen; as a woman, she knows the stakes. But if history repeats, Japan will keep playing defense, one ignored survivor at a time, proving gender in power does not guarantee empathy when nationalism calls the shots.