TOKYO: In a country that ranks poorly internationally for gender equality, the new president of Japan’s long-governing Liberal Democrats, and likely next prime minister, is an ultra-conservative star of a male-dominated party that critics call an obstacle to women’s advancement.
Sanae Takaichi, 64. admires former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and is a proponent of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative vision for Japan.
Takaichi is the first female president of Japan’s predominantly male ruling party that has dominated Japan’s postwar politics almost without interruption.
She hardly touched on gender issues during the campaign, but on Saturday, as she tried out the party president’s chair and posed for a photo as is customary for the newly elected leader, Takaichi said: ”Now that the LDP has its first female president, its scenery will change a little.”
First elected to parliament from her hometown of Nara in 1993, she has served in key party and government posts, including minister of economic security, internal affairs and gender equality.
Female lawmakers in the conservative Liberal Democratic Party who were given limited ministerial posts have often been shunned as soon as they spoke up about diversity and gender equality. Takaichi has stuck with old-fashioned views favored by male party heavyweights.
Takaichi also admits she is a workaholic who would rather study at home instead of socializing. After unsuccessfully running for party presidency twice in the past, she made efforts to be more sociable to build connections as advised, she said.
But on Saturday, as she called for an all-out effort to rebuild the party and regain public support, she asked all party lawmakers to “work like a horse.” Then she added, “I will abandon the word ‘work-life balance.’ I will work, work, work and work.”
The “work-life balance” quickly trended on social media, triggering mixed reactions — support for her enthusiasm and concern about her work ethic.
Women comprise only about 15 percent of Japan’s lower house, the more powerful of the two parliamentary chambers. Only two of Japan’s 47 prefectural governors are women.
A drummer in a heavy-metal band and a motorbike rider as a student, Takaichi has called for a stronger military, more fiscal spending for growth, promotion of nuclear fusion, cybersecurity and tougher policies on immigration.
She vowed to drastically increase female ministers in her government. But experts say she might actually set back women’s advancement because as leader she would have to show loyalty to influential male heavyweights. If not, she risks a short-lived leadership.
Takaichi has backed financial support for women’s health and fertility treatment as part of the LDP policy of having women serve in their traditional roles of being good mothers and wives. But she also recently acknowledged her struggles with menopausal symptoms and stressed the need to educate men about female health to help women at school and work.
Takaichi supports the imperial family’s male-only succession, opposes same-sex marriage and a revision to the 19th-century civil law that would allow separate surnames for married couples so that women don’t get pressured into abandoning theirs.
She is a wartime history revisionist and China hawk. She regularly visits Yasukuni Shrine, which Japan’s neighbors consider a symbol of militarism, though she has declined to say what she would do as prime minister.
Political watchers say her revisionist views of Japan’s wartime history may complicate ties with Beijing and Seoul.
Her hawkish stance is also a worry for the LDP’s longtime partnership with Komeito, a Buddhist-backed moderate party. While she has said the current coalition is crucial for her party, she says she is open to working with far-right groups.
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Japan’s first female governing-party leader is an ultra-conservative star in a male-dominated group
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Japan’s first female governing-party leader is an ultra-conservative star in a male-dominated group
- Sanae Takaichi, 64. admires former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
- She hardly touched on gender issues during the campaign
Italy to open Europe’s first marine sanctuary for dolphins
ROME: The Mediterranean’s first sanctuary for dolphins that have lived in captivity will open off Italy next year, as demand for re-homing rises with the closure of marine parks across Europe.
“We must develop a new model for managing dolphins in a natural but supervised environment,” Carmelo Fanizza, head of the San Paolo Dolphin Refuge, told AFP.
Located off the coast of Taranto in the southern Italian region of Puglia, the sanctuary still needs a final green light from the government.
But the site will be ready by the end of this month and the first dolphins are expected to arrive “no later than May or June 2026,” Fanizza said.
Animal rights concerns have driven countries such as Canada and France to ban the capture of dolphins, porpoises and whales, while growing numbers of marine parks are shutting.
That has created a burning question: what to do with the cetaceans, which can live for decades and have mostly only known life in captivity, so cannot be released into the wild?
The San Paolo Dolphin Refuge got permission from the Italian government in 2023 to use a seven-hectare (2.5-acre) area in the Gulf of Taranto, near the island of San Paolo.
The spot is “sheltered and protected from the sea, winds and prevailing ocean currents,” said Fanizza, brushing off concerns the site was near the industrial coastal city of Taranto.
The city is home to one of Europe’s largest steelworks, which has been embroiled in a pollution scandal, but is currently operating at reduced capacity.
“Improvements have been made to the facilities, so that the quality of the breathable air, the water column and the sediments in the area currently pose no risk to animal health,” Fanizza said.
- Sanctuary -
Located around four kilometers (nearly 2.5 miles) off the coast, the facility has a main 1,600-square-meter (17,200-square-foot) enclosure, a smaller one for potential transfers and a veterinary one for quarantine cases.
It has a floating laboratory, accommodation so staff can be on site overnight, and a food preparation area.
It is also equipped with a video surveillance system — both above and under water — as well as a series of sensors at sea, which transmit data to a control room in Taranto.
The sanctuary’s construction has been largely paid for by Jonian Dolphin Conservation — the research organization behind the initiative — with support from private donors and European public funds.
The site’s operating costs are estimated at between 350,000 and 500,000 euros ($408,000 and $584,000) per year.
It could legally accommodate up to 17 dolphins, but “the number will absolutely not be that,” said Fanizza, who stressed the importance of their well-being.
“Our goal at this stage is not to take in a large number of animals but to identify a group that, given its medical condition, behavior and social structure, could be ideal for initiating such a project,” he said.
Muriel Arnal, head of French animal rights group One Voice, which has long campaigned for marine sanctuaries, told AFP that Europe currently has around 60 dolphins in captivity.
“Once you have a model that works well, you can replicate it,” she said, adding that she hoped San Paolo would give a home to French dolphins too.
“We must develop a new model for managing dolphins in a natural but supervised environment,” Carmelo Fanizza, head of the San Paolo Dolphin Refuge, told AFP.
Located off the coast of Taranto in the southern Italian region of Puglia, the sanctuary still needs a final green light from the government.
But the site will be ready by the end of this month and the first dolphins are expected to arrive “no later than May or June 2026,” Fanizza said.
Animal rights concerns have driven countries such as Canada and France to ban the capture of dolphins, porpoises and whales, while growing numbers of marine parks are shutting.
That has created a burning question: what to do with the cetaceans, which can live for decades and have mostly only known life in captivity, so cannot be released into the wild?
The San Paolo Dolphin Refuge got permission from the Italian government in 2023 to use a seven-hectare (2.5-acre) area in the Gulf of Taranto, near the island of San Paolo.
The spot is “sheltered and protected from the sea, winds and prevailing ocean currents,” said Fanizza, brushing off concerns the site was near the industrial coastal city of Taranto.
The city is home to one of Europe’s largest steelworks, which has been embroiled in a pollution scandal, but is currently operating at reduced capacity.
“Improvements have been made to the facilities, so that the quality of the breathable air, the water column and the sediments in the area currently pose no risk to animal health,” Fanizza said.
- Sanctuary -
Located around four kilometers (nearly 2.5 miles) off the coast, the facility has a main 1,600-square-meter (17,200-square-foot) enclosure, a smaller one for potential transfers and a veterinary one for quarantine cases.
It has a floating laboratory, accommodation so staff can be on site overnight, and a food preparation area.
It is also equipped with a video surveillance system — both above and under water — as well as a series of sensors at sea, which transmit data to a control room in Taranto.
The sanctuary’s construction has been largely paid for by Jonian Dolphin Conservation — the research organization behind the initiative — with support from private donors and European public funds.
The site’s operating costs are estimated at between 350,000 and 500,000 euros ($408,000 and $584,000) per year.
It could legally accommodate up to 17 dolphins, but “the number will absolutely not be that,” said Fanizza, who stressed the importance of their well-being.
“Our goal at this stage is not to take in a large number of animals but to identify a group that, given its medical condition, behavior and social structure, could be ideal for initiating such a project,” he said.
Muriel Arnal, head of French animal rights group One Voice, which has long campaigned for marine sanctuaries, told AFP that Europe currently has around 60 dolphins in captivity.
“Once you have a model that works well, you can replicate it,” she said, adding that she hoped San Paolo would give a home to French dolphins too.
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