Conservative nationalist Sanae Takaichi was appointed Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday in a parliamentary vote that handed her a majority in the lower house.

Takaichi, who vowed to close Japan’s gender gap in the top echelons of politics, has finalised plans to make Satsuki Katayama the first woman to hold the key post of finance minister at a time when the country is worried about rising prices and slow growth.

The Nikkei share gauge has surged to record-breaking levels since fiscal dove Takaichi secured a coalition partnership with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, to firm up support for her appointment.

Below are comments on the appointment:

PROF. MIEKO NAKABAYASHI, WASEDA UNIVERSITY

“She has never handled foreign affairs directly, so it’s difficu

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