Takaichi, who is known to be an admirer of Britain's Margaret Thatcher, will get an early opportunity to meet President Donald Trump. They are both due to attend a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea at the end of October, and they should find common cause on conservative issues such as immigration.

Sanae Takaichi took office on Tuesday as Japan's first female prime minister, but her surprisingly male-dominated cabinet and socially conservative track record have left some women ambivalent in a country that lags on gender equality.

Japan's ruling party is set to sign a new coalition deal on Monday, paving the way for Sanae Takaichi to become the country's first woman prime minister, media reports said. Takaichi and her counterpart Hirofumi Yoshimura from the reformist,

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party have broadly agreed to form a coalition government, setting the stage for the country's first female prime minister,

Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takaichi looks set to become Japan's first female prime minister after the right-leaning Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, said it was ready to back her premiership.

Japan’s Sanae Takaichi is poised to become the nation’s first female prime minister, taking on the challenges of quelling discontent over the cost of living, dealing with the Trump administration and reviving the fortunes of a ruling party that has lost its dominance at the ballot box.