TOKYO — Conservative Sanae Takaichi was elected Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, shattering a political glass ceiling for women and setting the country up for a decisive turn to the Right.

An acolyte of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and an admirer of Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is expected to return to Abe-style government stimulus as she attempts to jumpstart an economy struggling with slow growth and rising prices. Her victory marks a pivotal shift in a country where men hold overwhelming sway, yet she named just two women to her cabinet.

Takaichi is likely to make a sharp turn to the Right on immigration and defense, reflecting the broader rightward shift in global politics. In her first press conference, she promised to work tirelessly to restore Japan’s economic might, and deepen the relationship with the United States under President Donald Trump.

“I am determined to deliver results for the nation, to build a strong Japan and to never give up,” she said.

“I also plan to meet President Trump at an early date to elevate the Japan-U.S. relationship to new heights,” she said.

Her victory was secured after her Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for most of postwar history, agreed on Monday to form a coalition with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin.

Together, the parties are two seats short of a majority in the lower house. For Takaichi to be successful, she will need to find ways to cooperate with opposition lawmakers, said Tadashi Mori, a professor of politics at Aichi Gakuin University.

“The two parties do not command a majority in either chamber and to ensure a stable government and gain control of key parliamentary committees, they will need to secure more than half the seats,” he said.

Takaichi named just two women to her cabinet: Fellow Abe disciple Satsuki Katayama becomes the country’s first female finance minister, while Kimi Onoda becomes economic security minister.

In her leadership campaign, she promised to boost the number of women in the cabinet to match socially progressive Nordic countries. But while the percentage of female ministers in Nordic governments ranges from Denmark’s 36% to Finland’s 61%, under Takaichi, women will make up only 16% of Japan’s cabinet, including her.

Takaichi takes over when Japanese politics appears more fractured than at almost any other time in recent memory, thanks in part to the rise of the smaller, hard-right Sanseito Party, which has siphoned voters away from the LDP.

Sanseito chief Sohei Kamiya said that both national politics and the LDP had been on a leftward drift since the assassination of former premier Abe in 2022. Takaichi, he told broadcaster NHK, could possibly reverse that.

“While we won’t hesitate to oppose her when necessary, we intend to maintain a friendly working relationship,” he said.

The LDP’s former coalition partner, the more moderate Komeito, broke up their 26-year-old alliance this month after the LDP chose the right-wing Takaichi as new leader.

Takaichi’s endorsement of Abe-style fiscal stimulus has prompted a so-called “Takaichi trade” in the stock market, sending the Nikkei share average to record highs, the most recent hit on Tuesday. However, it has also caused investor unease about the government’s ability to pay for increased spending when the debt load exceeds annual output. Both the yen and bond prices have weakened as a result.

Some analysts say Ishin, which has advocated for budget cuts, could restrain some of Takaichi’s spending ambitions.

Takaichi has said defense and national security would be core pillars of any administration she led.

A frequent visitor to the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo, which some Asian neighbours view as a symbol of wartime aggression, Takaichi has also called for a revision of Japan’s postwar pacifist constitution to recognize the existence of the nation’s military forces.

Rising political star Shinjiro Koizumi will serve as defense minister, while veteran lawmaker Toshimitsu Motegi will be foreign minister.

Takaichi was sworn in as Japan’s 104th prime minister on Tuesday evening, succeeding Shigeru Ishiba, who last month announced his resignation to take responsibility for election losses.

(Reporting by Mariko Katsumura, Tim Kelly, Kantaro Komiya, Yoshifumi Takemoto, Satoshi Sugiyama and Kentaro Okasaka; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Kate Mayberry and Hugh Lawson)

President Donald Trump delivered a stark warning to Hamas on Tuesday, vowing that if the terrorist group keeps violating his peace deal, “an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL!”

Trump pointed out that many countries had signed on to the agreement and told him, “explicitly and strongly, with great enthusiasm …  that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into GAZA with a heavy force and ‘straighten out Hamas’ if Hamas continues to act badly, in violation of their agreement with us.”

“I told these countries, and Israel, ‘NOT YET!’” Trump continued. “There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right. If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL!”

Last week, Trump wrote bluntly on Truth Social, “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.”

Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to DailyWire.com/Subscribe to join now.

On Sunday, Hamas terrorists emerged from a tunnel and fatally shot two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. Professor Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital  that the IDF — positioned along the Yellow Line marking the boundary between Israel and Gaza — was immediately tested by Hamas, which “first sent [civilian] children in order to provoke the IDF, in order to check if the IDF is aware enough and ready enough.”

“And then they sent militants of Hamas, and some of them were even killed along the yellow line,” he continued, adding:

They continue reconstituting themselves and attacking the IDF by using the tunnels, using the shafts going out, because they now feel much freer, because the IDF left the populated area. … Hamas is still using the tunnels, and intends to reconstruct the tunnels that were destroyed by Israel, because they intend to continue the war against Israel. They immediately recruited [thousands] of people and deployed them and are butchering their own people. They do not intend to give up on their position and influence in the Gaza Strip. They do not accept the idea of dismantling themselves. And they do not accept the idea that a foreign force or board will govern the Gaza Strip.

“On October 13, the Hamas-affiliated Arrow Unit publicly executed eight members of Gaza’s Doghmush clan on charges of allegedly collaborating with Israel,” the Foundation for Defense of Democracies reported. “Since the ceasefire between Palestinian factions and Israel went into effect on October 10, Hamas has carried out a campaign of punishment against clans, militias, and individuals in the Gaza Strip that it has accused of ‘opposing the resistance.’ … The Arrow Unit also warned that it would continue to target the Doghmush clan, the Abu Samra and Hallas families, and others who opposed Hamas during the war.”