Japan’s parliament elected Sanae Takaichi— an ultra-conservative politician—as its first female prime minister on October 21st. She succeeds Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-month gap in leadership that followed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s major loss in the July elections. Takaichi won 237 votes, defeating Yoshihiko Noda, who got 149 votes as head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, in the lower-house election for prime minister.
 　One day before the vote, the LDP teamed up with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party, or Ishin no Kai, to secure her win, while the opposition remained divided. This partnership is expected to shift her governing bloc further to the right.
 　However, her coalition lacks a majority in both houses, so she will need support from other parties to pass laws — a challenge that could make her government fragile and short-lived.

　日本國會10 月21 日選出高市早苗，一位極右派的政治人物為首位女性首相。她接替石破茂，結束自民黨在7 月大選慘敗以來長達3 個月的政治真空。高市在眾議院的首相選舉中，以237 票擊敗立憲民主黨黨魁野田佳彥的149 票。
　投票前一天，自民黨與右翼政黨「日本維新會」結盟，以確保高市能在反對派分裂的情況下拿下首相之位。這個聯盟預計將使她的執政陣營更為右傾。
　但她的聯盟在國會兩院皆未取得多數席次，她勢必需要其他政黨的支持才能推動法案，這可能使她面臨政權不穩且短暫的挑戰。