Incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tapped two high-profile female lawmakers Tuesday for the top executive posts of the Liberal Democratic Party in an apparent effort to garner the support of female voters ahead of the Upper House election next summer.
The LDP named Seiko Noda, a former postal minister, as General Council chairwoman, and Sanae Takaichi as Policy Research Council chief.
Takaichi, a former minister tasked with handling issues related to the low birthrate, is the first woman to serve as the LDP's policy chief. The staunch conservative is opposed to giving long-term foreign residents local suffrage and has repeatedly visited the war-related Yasukuni Shrine.