Writing about the private life of a politician is a delicate matter. It is unfair for a person to be recorded in a way they do not desire, and it is also wrong for private stories to distort public evaluations. However, the story of Sanae Takaichi's family includes things she herself has made public. Furthermore, those stories are intricately connected to the policies she has pursued as a politician. This chapter takes on meaning when read at that intersection.

Autumn 2003. Takaichi lost her seat in the Nara 1st District. The campaign office had to be cleared out. Luggage and boxes piled up—posters, campaign materials, and office furniture. For a politician who has lost their seat, clearing out items accumulated over three to five years overnight is a daunting task. Help was needed.

Then, a phone call came.

It was Taku Yamamoto (山本拓), a fellow member of the House of Representatives from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), representing a constituency in Fukui Prefecture. The call was one of consolation—a call to encourage a fallen colleague. As they spoke, Takaichi mentioned that she was short-handed in clearing out her campaign office.

Yamamoto arrived and helped move the office equipment. That day, amidst the cleared-out space, Yamamoto spoke.

"I want to take you with me as well."

It was an impromptu proposal. There had been no prior dating. They met, cleared the office together, and he proposed right then and there. Takaichi likely did not make a decision on the spot, but it was not long before she accepted the proposal. This anecdote was later introduced in the Japanese media using the expression "Zero-day dating marriage" (交際0日婚). Takaichi herself did not hide this story; she personally wrote about the marriage process in a column on her official website.

They married in 2004. Both were active members of the House of Representatives. Takaichi was 43, and Yamamoto was 50. While it was not uncommon for two lawmakers to marry in Japanese politics, it became a sensation as a case where a proposal led to marriage without a period of dating.

Yamamoto's political leanings overlapped with Takaichi's—both were part of the LDP conservative wing. However, there were differences in their specific positions even within the same party, such as on economic policy and agricultural protection issues. Yamamoto took a strong stance on protecting agriculture and was cautious about trade liberalization. Initially, these differences were not an issue.

In 2007, three years after their marriage, Takaichi took her first cabinet post in the first Abe administration. She served as Minister of State for Declining Birthrate, Food Safety, and Gender Equality. Subsequently, after serving as Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, she rose to become Chairperson of the Policy Research Council and served two terms as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. Her career began to accelerate.

During that same time, Yamamoto's position did not change significantly. Though he remained a lawmaker dedicated to his constituency, he did not secure a position at the core of national administration. This created a situation where one spouse was pulling significantly ahead. Takaichi had become a key member of the cabinet overseeing the media as Minister of Internal Affairs, while Yamamoto remained a local constituency representative.

Only those on the inside can truly know what kind of atmosphere that asymmetry created between the couple. Furthermore, their political stances diverged over time. Yamamoto supported Shigeru Ishiba (石破茂), while Takaichi supported Shinzo Abe. The two pillars of LDP conservatism collided.

On July 19, 2017, the two divorced.

The reason given in the official announcement was a "Difference in political stance" (政治スタンスの違い). This was a common expression used in the divorces of Japanese political couples. Neither side provided specific details on exactly which positions differed and how.

Takaichi later made remarks to this effect in a media interview: that it was Yamamoto who first requested the divorce. She mentioned hearing words such as "I've been enduring it all this time" and "I think I could feel more at ease if we weren't a couple." This testimony, reported by Daily Shincho, may not be the whole story. Thirteen years of marriage cannot be explained in a single sentence. However, those words convey that the gap between the two had widened over time.

The divorce occurred while Takaichi was serving as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. She handled the matter without letting it affect her duties as a minister. The divorce became known only after she stepped down from her ministerial post in August 2017; it was not revealed while she was in office.

In 2021, four years after the divorce, Sanae Takaichi ran in the LDP presidential election.

During that election, Taku Yamamoto publicly supported his former spouse. He expressed his support for Takaichi as she ran for the presidency. It is difficult to conclude whether their solidarity as political partners preceded their personal relationship, or if the restoration of personal feelings led to political support.

Takaichi lost the presidential election to Fumio Kishida. In the time immediately following that defeat—when the presidency did not come to her—it is unknown what conversations took place between the two.

In December 2021, the two remarried.

A Japanese weekly magazine was the first to report this fact. There was no official announcement or press conference; it was a quiet reunion. This occurred three months after her defeat in the presidential election.

One decision was made during the remarriage process: which surname would the couple use. Under Japanese law, married couples must, in principle, use the same surname. For both, their respective surnames held political significance. The name "Sanae Takaichi" was well-known to voters, as was "Taku Yamamoto."

A decision was reached: Yamamoto changed his surname to "Takaichi." Taku Yamamoto became Taku Takaichi (高市拓). While it is not unheard of for a man to take his female spouse's surname in Japan, in their case, it carried a different meaning.

Sanae Takaichi had long been a politician who opposed the introduction of a selective separate surname system (夫婦別姓). Her position was that "A family should use the same surname; it is a symbol of family ties." She remarried while maintaining that stance, and as a result, her husband changed his name to hers.

Criticism followed, pointing out this paradox. Critics asked how the result of maintaining her original surname while having her husband change theirs was any different from the debate over separate surnames, which demands the individual's right to choose their surname. Takaichi did not respond directly to this criticism. Her explanation was that since Japanese law allows a couple to choose either surname by mutual agreement, they had made a legal decision within the scope of the law. She did not change her opposition to separate surnames.

In October 2025, Takaichi became Prime Minister. Taku Yamamoto (Takaichi) became "Japan's first First Gentleman." There was no precedent for this role. While the wives of prime ministers have traditionally played certain roles on the diplomatic stage, there were no conventions, expectations, or defined roles for the husband of a prime minister.

Between the marriage, divorce, and remarriage, there was a fact that Takaichi publicly revealed.

She has no biological children. She has not given birth to any children of her own. She did not hide the reason, writing directly in a column on her official website that after undergoing surgery for a gynecological condition, her body became one where pregnancy and childbirth were difficult.

There was a background to this disclosure. In 2007, when she served as the minister in charge of measures for the declining birthrate and gender equality in the first Abe cabinet, some critics raised the question: Is someone who has never given birth qualified to discuss measures for the low birthrate?

By disclosing her medical history, she responded to those criticisms. She clarified that it was not because she did not want children, but because she was in a situation where she wanted them but could not have them—and that this should not be a disqualifying factor for policy judgment.

Furthermore, she stated that a society must be built where women suffering from infertility can receive treatment. At the same time, she argued that the tendency to criticize women who do not give birth must also disappear. She spoke of both together.

To what extent these statements were born of pure honesty is unknown. There likely was also political calculation—a preemptive disclosure to block further criticism. However, the disclosure itself required courage. It was not a common thing in Japan for a public official to openly reveal gynecological diseases, surgeries, and the inability to conceive.

Though she has no biological children, Takaichi has a family.

Yamamoto had three children from his marriage with his ex-wife. Takaichi became their stepmother when she married Yamamoto. Although that relationship was legally dissolved with their divorce, it was re-established upon their remarriage. Those three are now her stepchildren and adult family members.

And there are four grandchildren—children born as her stepchildren started their own families. Takaichi became a "grandmother." They are not grandchildren linked by blood, but it is a fact that those children are her family.

In the Japanese language, there are separate terms for "Family" (家族) and "Blood Relation" (血縁). Family does not necessarily mean blood relation. Takaichi's family serves as a practical demonstration of that distinction—a family relationship continued through legal divorce and remarriage without a blood connection.

One cannot say that this is meaningless. As for how she herself perceives the tension between this reality and the traditional view of family she has promoted, it is difficult to find such insights in her public statements.

After becoming Prime Minister, Takaichi made a campaign promise to establish base hospitals nationwide for the comprehensive treatment of diseases specific to women. It was a policy born of her own experience. The pain she had to endure alone decades ago, the memories she had to hide for fear of they becoming pretexts for political criticism—those memories were transformed into policy.

A couple that divorced and remarried; a family consisting of stepchildren and grandchildren without biological children; a marriage where the husband changed his surname within the bounds of the law while supporting a traditional view of family. Readers will judge for themselves the relationship between this complexity and her public positions.

Let me add one more thing. Since Takaichi disclosed her gynecological history, it has become less extraordinary in Japan for female politicians to disclose their medical backgrounds. This is another way in which the traces of one's life can change politics.

A politician's private life is not unrelated to public policy. The life one has lived influences the policies one creates. It is an error to draw that connection too simply, and it is equally an error to believe it does not exist at all. Sanae Takaichi's family story lies somewhere in between.

References

- Taku Yamamoto (Politician) Wikipedia: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E6%9C%AC%E6%8B%93_%28%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB%E5%AE%B6%29 - Sanae Takaichi Official Column — Report on Marriage: https://www.sanae.gr.jp/column_detail336.html - NEWS POST SEVEN — Introduction of Taku Yamamoto (October 2025): https://www.news-postseven.com/archives/20251017_2070809.html - Daily Shincho — Interview on the circumstances of the divorce: https://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2025/10220601/?all=1&page=2 - BuzzFeed Japan — Reasons for opposing separate surnames for married couples: https://www.buzzfeed.com/jp/kotahatachi/sanae-takaichi-1