With Liberal Democratic Party president Sanae Takaichi poised to become Japan’s first female prime minister, her spouse, former LDP Lower House lawmaker Taku Yamamoto, is set to become the country’s first-ever first husband.
The couple has made a case study out of their surname choices after marriage — keeping them legally the same but publicly separate — to prove that the current system is not sexist. Currently, either spouse can take the surname of their partner, but they cannot choose to keep separate surnames.
Takaichi and Yamamoto first married in 2004. They divorced in 2017 due to differences in their political stances, then remarried in 2021.
During their first marriage, Takaichi changed her legal surname to “Yamamoto” but continued using her maiden name professionally.
At first, Takaichi had wanted to use the name “Sanae Yamamoto” professionally as well. It was Yamamoto who pushed her to continue working as “Sanae Takaichi” while legally taking his surname.
Takaichi had submitted a bill that would allow married couples to do just that, and Yamamoto argued that she would be opposing her own legislation if she couldn’t set an example.
When they remarried in 2021, Yamamoto changed his legal surname to “Takaichi.”
The two have never had children of their own, due to Takaichi’s health issues. However, Takaichi has a close relationship with Yamamoto’s children from his first marriage.
Takaichi has been Yamamoto’s caregiver since he suffered a stroke earlier this year.
Takaichi has said she was engaged to Yamamoto before they ever went on a date. Both were members of late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's faction and had known each other for years but weren’t close before marriage.
In a blog post announcing her marriage in 2004, Takaichi wrote that the first time she thought Yamamoto was “surprisingly kind” was when he called her after she lost in the 2003 Lower House election.
“I know how difficult it is after losing,” Yamamoto told Takaichi, offering her help in cleaning out her office and finding new job positions for her secretaries.
Yamamoto ended up taking Takaichi’s fax machine and her secretary, who was also her brother.
Months later, Yamamoto overheard a conversation in which Takaichi, who was single at the time, said that she was seriously considering marriage.
“He was listening with ears like Dumbo,” Takaichi wrote, adding that Yamamoto called her the next month, asking if she would consider marrying him.
“If you’re seriously looking for a husband, I’ve been married once so, I’ll be your candidate,” Yamamoto told Takaichi.
Yamamoto also sold his kitchen skills, telling Takaichi that he had a cooking license.
Takaichi called Yamamoto back in a week with a “yes.”
A veteran lawmaker from Fukui Prefecture, Yamamoto, 73, served eight terms in parliament until 2021. He lost in the two previous Lower House elections, running as an LDP candidate in 2021 and as an independent in 2024.
Now set to become first husband, Yamamoto is supportive of Takaichi potentially becoming prime minister despite the political circumstances — a divided LDP that lacks a majority in both houses of parliament.
“It’s like picking up a chestnut from the fire in tough times for a minority government. But she intends to deliver results one by one,” Yamamoto said in an interview with the Fukui Shimbun on Oct. 5.
After Takaichi lost to former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in last year’s LDP presidential election, Yamamoto used his campaign in the Lower House election to pledge his support for Takaichi’s policies.
“I’ll make her Japan’s first female prime minister next time,” Yamamoto said at the time.
According to sources close to the LDP, Yamamoto made calls to the party’s rank-and-file members in Fukui Prefecture on behalf of Takaichi as soon as Ishiba announced his intention to resign on Sept. 7, the Fukui Shimbun reported.
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