
Sanae Takaichi, the newly-elected leader of Japan’s ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), poses for a photo in the party leader’s office after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Oct. 4, 2025. Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images
Sanae Takaichi, leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is poised to become the next prime minister after the opposition Japan Innovation Party stated that it would back her in forming a new government.
“I told Takaichi that we should move forward together,” Hirofumi Yoshimura, head of the Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, told reporters in Osaka.

