Electoral defeat grants a politician a different kind of time.

The lawmaker's badge disappears. The office in the Diet Members' Office Building must be vacated. The Diet entry pass is returned. The National Diet Library, the members-only dining hall, and the special passage leading to the gallery of the plenary chamber—all these things vanish in an instant. Aides must find other offices or leave parliamentary service altogether. People who were in daily contact until recently stop answering their phones. Those who used to usher you to the front row at local events now take a step back.

Sanae Takaichi experienced this twice. In 1998, and again in 2003.

Her first defeat came in the summer of 1998. It was a year and a half after she had joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). She ran for the Nara Prefecture constituency of the House of Councillors. There was only one seat. It was a binary outcome: win or lose.

The House of Councillors election in July 1998 was a difficult one even for Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's (小渕恵三) LDP. The Japanese economy was reeling from the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. The 1997 consumption tax hike had further cooled the economy. Former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto (橋本龍太郎) had led the cabinet but resigned following the electoral loss, with Obuchi succeeding him. The LDP struggled nationwide.

In Nara Prefecture, Takaichi, the LDP's officially endorsed candidate, was defeated. Her first election after joining the party resulted in a loss. This could be viewed critically. However, seen another way, it was never an easy fight for a newcomer with no established roots in the party to take on the challenge alone under the party banner. She was not a hereditary politician, nor did she have the support of a powerful faction.

Following her defeat, Takaichi continued her local activities. She toured Nara Prefecture without the status of a lawmaker. She met with voters. She never stopped her political studies. Then, in 2000, an opportunity arrived.

In the 42nd General Election of the House of Representatives, Takaichi failed to win directly in the Nara 1st District, but she secured a seat through the Kinki proportional representation block. It was not a victory won entirely on her own strength; it was a seat reclaimed thanks to the party's proportional list. Nevertheless, she was back in the Diet. It was her third term.

Upon returning to the Diet, Takaichi focused on policy work. The cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi (小泉純一郎) was inaugurated in 2001. A Prime Minister who spoke of "destroying the LDP." Postal privatization, deregulation, and structural reform—Koizumi's slogans were fresh, and his approval ratings were high. Amidst this momentum, Takaichi was appointed as the State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (経済産業副大臣) in the first reshuffled Koizumi cabinet in 2002. It was her first government post. She was able to witness the front lines of policy-making from the inside.

However, in 2003, her second defeat arrived.

On November 9, 2003, the 43rd General Election of the House of Representatives took place. In the Nara 1st District, her opponent was Sumio Mabuchi (馬淵澄夫) of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Mabuchi, born in 1967, was six years younger than Takaichi. A graduate of the Kyoto University Faculty of Engineering, he was a rising politician who had entered politics after a career in the private sector. He was a capable figure who would later rise to the position of Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

In the one-on-one battle of the single-seat constituency, Takaichi lost. Mabuchi took more votes. Furthermore, her "resurrection" through proportional representation also failed. It was a complete defeat. Just three years after returning via the proportional list in 2000, she had to leave the Diet once again.

The second defeat was different from the first. It was heavier. The 1998 House of Councillors loss was the defeat of a newcomer who had just joined the LDP. 2003 was different. A person who had served as State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry had lost in a direct head-to-head in her own constituency and failed to survive even through proportional representation.

The Japanese political climate at the time was unfavorable to Takaichi. While the Koizumi LDP was in its prime, this did not necessarily benefit every LDP candidate. On the contrary, there were cases where DPJ candidates who aligned themselves with Koizumi's reformist agenda received support. Mabuchi was one such case.

In December 2003, Takaichi assumed a position as a professor at the Faculty of Economics at Kinki University (近畿大学).

Kinki University is a private university located in Higashiosaka City, Osaka Prefecture. A professorship in the Faculty of Economics awaited her. The subjects she taught were Industrial Policy and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Theory. These were fields she had focused on during her time as a lawmaker. It was a position where theory and practical experience converged.

In the university classroom, young students in suits sit in the front rows. Standing at the blackboard, Takaichi explains the history of Japanese industrial policy: the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (通産省) during the high-growth era, manufacturing support policies, and the role of small and medium-sized enterprises. The students listening to her lectures likely did not know that the professor before them had worn a Diet member's badge only to have it taken away twice.

The time spent in electoral defeat shapes a person in a special way.

When you are a member of the Diet, information flows in automatically. Bureaucrats visit to report. The National Diet Library prepares materials. Aides narrow down your options. Local power brokers call you. However, for someone who is not a lawmaker, no one comes calling. One must seek out information and make judgments alone.

Takaichi filled that time with study. She read economic literature. She wrote papers on industrial policy. To prepare for her lectures, she delved deeper into the structure of the Japanese economy. While she had focused on the big picture of policy as a lawmaker, during this period she trained herself to scrutinize detailed logic with precision.

And her activities in her constituency never stopped.

Even without the Diet badge, she toured Nara Prefecture. She attended local events. She spoke with residents. There were places that would not open their doors to someone who was no longer a lawmaker. There were people whose interest had cooled. Yet, she persevered.

What made this possible?

When she was first elected as an independent in 1993, she had nothing. Her father was not a lawmaker, she had not inherited a support organization, and she had no official endorsement from the LDP. On her own strength, she traveled throughout Nara Prefecture to gather votes and get elected. That experience is her root. Because she started from a state of having nothing, she was able to endure returning to that state.

If there is something the time of defeat left behind, it is likely this:

The practice of standing alone without an organization. Even within the LDP and within factions, she was always slightly on the outside. Lawmakers who rise on the coattails of a powerful faction cannot stand alone the moment that faction withdraws its support. Takaichi walked without a faction from the beginning. That solitary walk later created her image as a "politician who owes no one."

Two defeats. Over two years in total spent outside the Diet. There is no evidence that this time made her weaker. Quite the opposite. A person who has lost twice and returned gains something different from those who have never lost. She learned with her own body how to endure any situation.

In 2004, Takaichi is seated in her office at Kinki University. Outside the window, the cityscape of Osaka unfolds. Preparing for lectures, reading papers, or grading students' reports—but the end of her gaze was always directed toward Nara (奈良).

When will the next election come? In what way will I fight? Can I win that election? These questions must have been in her mind.

In the spring of 2005, a phone call came from LDP headquarters. It was a notice that there was a new role for her in the next election. The name of the role was "Assassin Candidate" (刺客候補). Its content was as resolute as its name.

Koizumi's postal privatization—that battle was waiting for her.

How the experience of defeat changes a politician varies from person to person. Some give up on politics after a loss. Others use it as an opportunity to reflect on themselves and become stronger. Takaichi was the latter. During her time as a professor at Kinki University, she was not merely maintaining her livelihood. By teaching political economy, she systematized her own policy theories. Her economic knowledge was directly utilized in policy planning during her later tenure as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications and in drafting legislation as Minister in charge of Economic Security. Defeat was not the end; it was a time to recharge.

It is worth considering the meaning of not giving up even after experiencing defeat twice. In Japanese politics, a loss is not just a simple electoral failure. The percentage of lawmakers who succeed in making a comeback after a defeat is low. Particularly under the single-seat constituency system, losing once can significantly shake one's foundation in that district.

However, Takaichi was different. After her 1998 defeat, she returned in 2000 via proportional representation. After her 2003 defeat, she made a brilliant comeback as an "assassin candidate" in 2005. What was the secret to her return? Never stopping her local activities, continuing her policy studies, and steadily maintaining her network within the party. These three factors combined to turn two defeats into two returns.

It is also noteworthy that her time as a Kinki University professor was a period of political recharging rather than mere survival. By teaching economics, she refined her policy language, and through communication with students, she trained herself to explain policies from the perspective of ordinary citizens. That ability shone when she later served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications and Minister in charge of Economic Security.

The time of defeat is not evidence of a politician's fragility. Rather, how one endures that time shows their true inner strength. Sanae Takaichi swam out of the quagmire of defeat. Both times.

Reference Materials

- Sanae Takaichi Wikipedia (Japanese): https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AB%98%E5%B8%82%E6%97%A9%E8%8B%97 - Sanae Takaichi Namuwiki Biography: https://namu.wiki/w/%EB%8B%A4%EC%B9%B4%EC%9D%B4%EC%B9%98%20%EC%82%AC%EB%82%98%EC%97%90/%EC%83%9D%EC%95%A0 - Diet Member White Paper: Sanae Takaichi Election Results: https://kokkai.sugawarataku.net/giin/err02178.html - nippon.com — Timeline to Sanae Takaichi's Presidential Bid: https://www.nippon.com/ja/japan-data/h02560/ - Kinki University Faculty and Staff Union Tweet (Regarding her appointment as professor after 2003 defeat): https://x.com/unionkin/status/1718788188385558958