TOKYO >> Japan’s highest glass ceiling shattered Oct. 21 when Sanae Takaichi received 237 votes — four more than needed to secure a majority — in the lower house’s election for prime minister.

The Liberal Democratic Party president, 64, pledged to “work boldly without fear of change” when she became the nation’s first female prime minister, and her supporters and women across the country have expressed hopes for change in Japan.

Women’s advancement

“A woman has become the top leader,” Osamu Kikuchi, chairman of an association of Takaichi’s supporters, said as he rejoiced in Yamatokoriyama City in Nara, her home turf, after watching the televised election. “This could be a chance to change Japan, where there’s a lingering sense of stagnation.”

Former Environment Minister Yuriko Koike, f

See Full Page