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[AI Library] Chapter 10: Returning as a "Slayer Candidate"
Beyond the Glass Ceiling
Part 2: Debut — Election and Wandering
Chapter 10: Returning as a "Slayer Candidate"
Kim Kyung-jin
One day in September 2004, Sanae Takaichi's mobile phone rang. The caller was Taku Yamamoto (山本拓), a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He was a veteran lawmaker from the Fukui Prefecture (福井県) constituency, an economic policy expert, and a figure from the mainstream LDP conservative lineage.
The content of that call was unexpected.
"If you are seriously looking for a marriage partner, I have experience with divorce as well, so I will put myself forward as a candidate."
Takaichi was 44 years old. Yamamoto was 50. Both were politicians who had lived intensely for their seats in the Diet. Both had previous marriage experience. Without any awkward dating period, that call was effectively a proposal.
The Japanese media later called this a "Zero-Day Dating Marriage" (交際ゼロ日婚). Half a year later, in September 2004, Takaichi and Yamamoto submitted their marriage registration. Takaichi was 43, Yamamoto 50.
The connection between the two was Takaichi's younger brother. Her brother worked in Yamamoto's office, and that link brought the two politicians together. Even after marriage, the two continued to be active as independent politicians in their respective constituencies. An LDP lawmaker couple. Members of the same party, but two independent individuals with different local districts.
And just a few months after that marriage, a storm swept through Japanese politics.
On July 5, 2005, in the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's most critical pushed legislation, the Postal Privatization Bill, was passed with 233 in favor and 228 against. Thirty-seven LDP members voted against it. It barely passed.
However, on August 8, the bill was rejected in the House of Councillors. 108 in favor, 125 against. Twenty-two LDP members in the House of Councillors voted against it.
That evening, Koizumi stood before reporters. His voice was resolute. "I am dissolving the House of Representatives." Dissolving the lower house because a bill was rejected in the upper house was an extreme case of constitutional interpretation in Japan. It was a decision without precedent. But Koizumi did it.
'Postal Dissolution' (郵政解散).
Koizumi said, "Are you for or against postal privatization? I will ask the people directly." The election was set for September 11. An election fought over a single issue: for or against.
It is necessary to briefly explain what postal privatization was. Japan's nationwide post offices were not just places to deliver letters. They were massive financial institutions operating postal savings and simple life insurance. In 2005, the postal savings balance was approximately 220 trillion yen, and the simple insurance reserves were approximately 120 trillion yen—a total of about 340 trillion yen. This enormous capital was held outside the market under government management.
Koizumi's argument was: "This capital must be opened to the private market. We must innovate the outdated public fund management system." The opposition's argument was: "The post office network in rural areas will collapse. The financial accessibility for local residents will decrease."
Even within the LDP, 37 members of the House of Representatives and 22 members of the House of Councillors opposed it. Koizumi branded them as "rebel forces." He revoked the party endorsements of the LDP lawmakers who opposed the bill or encouraged them to leave the party.
And in every constituency held by those departing lawmakers, Koizumi sent new LDP candidates. The media called them "Slayer Candidates" (刺客候補).
In August 2005, a call came to Takaichi from LDP headquarters. The Nara 2nd District (奈良2区). The request was for her to go as a Slayer to that constituency.
Nara 2nd District was a constituency including Yamatokoriyama City (大和郡山市), Kashihara City (橿原市), and Sakurai City (桜井市). An area spanning southern and central Nara Prefecture. It was different from Nara 1st District (the center of Nara City) where Takaichi had previously been active.
The incumbent lawmaker in that district was Minoru Taki (滝実). Born in 1935, he was 70 years old at the time. A former bureaucrat from the Ministry of Home Affairs (now Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications), he was a veteran who had been an LDP lawmaker since 1990. Taki opposed postal privatization and did not vote in favor. His LDP endorsement was revoked, and Taki joined New Party Nippon (新党日本), contesting the election from a position close to an independent.
Takaichi was deployed as a Slayer to that district.
The election campaign began. There were unfavorable conditions for a Slayer candidate coming from the outside. Taki's local base. Local networks and support organizations built over decades. To the voters of Nara 2nd District, Taki was a familiar name, but Takaichi was a newcomer. Some local LDP branches publicly supported the departed Taki. It was an ironic situation where the official LDP candidate could not receive support from the local LDP organization.
However, the 2005 election was no ordinary election. Major national media outlets pointed their cameras at the Slayer districts. The drama of Koizumi versus the rebels. Takaichi versus Taki. Nara 2nd District was one scene in that drama.
The judgment criteria of voters also changed. It was not the face of a lawmaker who had spent decades in the region, but whether they were for or against postal privatization. Whether they supported Koizumi's reforms. Many voters cast their ballots based on that standard.
Counting on September 11. The results were out.
Sanae Takaichi (LDP): 92,096 votes, 44.5%; Tetsuji Nakamura (Democratic Party): 34.8%; Minoru Taki (New Party Nippon): 14.5%; Akemi Nakano (Japanese Communist Party): 6.1%
It was a landslide victory for Takaichi. Taki came in third with 14.5%. Although he gained a seat through proportional representation "resurrection," he lost significantly in the direct single-seat constituency battle.
Nationwide, the LDP also won a crushing victory. Out of 480 seats, the LDP took 296 and Komeito 31. A total of 327 seats, exceeding two-thirds of the House of Representatives. It was the election where the LDP recorded its highest seat percentage since 1960.
Takaichi returned to the Diet. It was two years after her 2003 defeat. She was 44 years old. This was her fourth term.
Twelve years of political career. First term as an independent, party integration, defeat, return via proportional representation, defeat, life as a professor, and election as a Slayer. This path was not a straight line. There were curves, detours, and dead ends. However, those curves did not break her.
The meaning of being deployed and winning as a Slayer candidate went beyond mere electoral victory. Being chosen as a Slayer by LDP headquarters also meant a high degree of trust. A candidate who could represent the party's position and win in a difficult constituency. She was asked to take on that role and she delivered.
And the Slayer victory became the stepping stone for her cabinet appointment the following year.
Hereditary lawmakers do not know defeat. The constituency, the support association, the name inherited from their father—those who have them start from a different starting line. Takaichi did not have that. Instead, she learned through experience how to return even after a defeat. She learned how to stand on her own without a faction. She learned how to enter a new constituency and win in an unfamiliar land.
These experiences would later become the foundation of the path leading to three challenges for the LDP presidency and her inauguration as Prime Minister.
On the night of September 11, 2005, what was Sanae Takaichi thinking after confirming the results? We cannot know. However, the next morning, she appeared at the Nara 2nd District campaign office—this time as an elected member of the Diet, as someone starting anew in a new district.
The expression "Slayer Candidate" first appeared in this 2005 election. Koizumi deployed celebrities or capable individuals into the constituencies of LDP lawmakers who opposed postal privatization. Actresses, broadcasters, and former bureaucrats were deployed in large numbers. Among them, Sanae Takaichi was distinguished by having political experience. She fought the election with actual ability rather than just fame. Defeating an incumbent in Nara 2nd District was proof of that. A return to the Diet—this time as a Slayer, and in a stronger form.
The LDP's landslide victory on September 11, 2005, was a monumental event in Japanese political history. Junichiro Koizumi was not just a party leader, but a political catalyst who ignited the voters' desire for change. The 296 seats the LDP won in that election were the most since 1960.
However, there was an important lesson behind that landslide victory. An election victory is the starting point of policy implementation, not the destination. Postal privatization did proceed afterward, but the large-scale financial liberalization effect initially expected did not materialize. After postal privatization, Japan Post became a private company, but its method of operation did not change significantly.
For Takaichi, the meaning of the 2005 election lay elsewhere. Being deployed as a Slayer candidate and defeating an incumbent raised her status within the LDP. She did not shy away from a difficult fight and produced results. This reputation led to her first cabinet appointment in the Abe Cabinet the following year.
Nara 2nd District. At first, it was an unfamiliar land. Kashihara City, Yamatokoriyama City, Sakurai City. Places that were not her roots. However, the experience of winning in that unfamiliar land instilled new confidence in her. Winning by appealing directly to the voters without factional support or a local base—she proved that it was possible.
References
- Sanae Takaichi Wikipedia (Japanese): https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AB%98%E5%B8%82%E6%97%A9%E8%8B%97 - Nara 2nd District Wikipedia: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A5%88%E8%89%AF%E7%9C%8C%E7%AC%AC2%E5%8C%BA - Postal Privatization in Japan Wikipedia (Korean): https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9D%BC%EB%B3%B8%EC%9D%98_%EC%9A%B0%EC%A0%95%EB%AF%BC%EC%98%81%ED%99%94 - Junichiro Koizumi Wikipedia (Korean): https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EA%B3%A0%EC%9D%B4%EC%A6%88%EB%AF%B8_%EC%A4%80%EC%9D%B4%EC%B9%98%EB%A1%9C - Taku Yamamoto Wikipedia (Japanese): https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E6%9C%AC%E6%8B%93_(%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB%E5%AE%B6)