Released October 22, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In a first for the nation, Japan on Tuesday elected a woman--Sanae Takaichi--as prime minister (PM). She is expected to continue her predecessors' push to restart nuclear plants idled since the tsunami--and she has expressed concerns about solar power.
The 64-year-old leader of Japan's Liberal Democrat Party (LDP) is known as the nation's "Iron Lady," due in part to her expressed admiration for the U.K.'s Margaret Thatcher. Winning a simple majority of votes in her third try for the position, she is Japan's fourth prime minister in five years, as her party has struggled to recover from recent scandals.
In elections on July 20 of this year, the ruling LDP and coalition partner Komeito fell three seats short of maintaining their previous majority. That led to the resignation of then-PM Shigeru Ishiba after he completed trade negotiations with the U.S.
Trump Connection U.S. President Donald Trump has praised the new PM as a "highly respected person of great wisdom and strength." For her part, Takaichi has said she is "very pleased" with Trump's approval and that she is "hoping to work together to make our alliance even stronger and more prosperous."
Energy Policies
Following the tradition of her predecessors, especially her mentor, the late former PM Shinzo Abe, Takaichi is a strong supporter of continuing to restart reactors idled since the catastrophic Fukushima tsunami in March of 2011, which spread nuclear waste across wide areas of the Pacific Ocean.
So far, more than 14 years later, only 13 of Japan's previously active 33 reactors have been returned to service, with three more expected to come online by 2030. According to Bloomberg, "That would take Japan's nuclear capacity to 16.6 gigawatts, just under half the level required to meet the government's target of having 20% to 22% of the nation's electricity come from nuclear by 2030."
Restarts are hampered by much stricter regulations and permitting, aimed at preventing another tsunami meltdown. The end result is that building new or restarting existing facilities takes years to accomplish.
Japan joins the U.S., China, France, Turkey, Poland, the United Arab Emirates and other nations that are reviving interest and research in nuclear energy as a way to meet climate goals without sacrificing reliability and security. Still, the island nation's susceptibility to tsunamis and earthquakes puts extra restraints on that industry.
Takaichi has said she supports moving the nuclear fleet toward fusion, but as IIR News has reported, despite renewed interest in the process, any real deployment is likely at least 10 years out.
Regarding solar panels, a key part of the nation's climate goals, she has said she opposes "further covering our beautiful land with foreign-made solar panels," as most of them are imported from China, which could compromise energy security.
On the security side, Takaichi has voiced support for the development of perovskite solar panels, a next-generation solar film that is more energy efficient. Japanese companies are working to remedy perovskite panels' issues of short operating life, among others. Chinese firms are also researching perovskite.
Cannon to the Right of Her, Cannon to the Left
While the LDP is a conservative party, parties further to the right (as well as those on the far left) have gained seats in recent elections. This also follows a worldwide trend, in which the rise of more-radical parties that are opposed to any kind of negotiation make arriving at a governable middle ground more and more difficult. See the U.S. budget stalemate as an example--which, while still governed by just two parties, the radical wings of both consider compromise as a defeat.
This can have the effect of keeping current official policies in place, while actually moving ahead or achieving goals is ever more difficult.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
The 64-year-old leader of Japan's Liberal Democrat Party (LDP) is known as the nation's "Iron Lady," due in part to her expressed admiration for the U.K.'s Margaret Thatcher. Winning a simple majority of votes in her third try for the position, she is Japan's fourth prime minister in five years, as her party has struggled to recover from recent scandals.
In elections on July 20 of this year, the ruling LDP and coalition partner Komeito fell three seats short of maintaining their previous majority. That led to the resignation of then-PM Shigeru Ishiba after he completed trade negotiations with the U.S.
Trump Connection U.S. President Donald Trump has praised the new PM as a "highly respected person of great wisdom and strength." For her part, Takaichi has said she is "very pleased" with Trump's approval and that she is "hoping to work together to make our alliance even stronger and more prosperous."
Energy Policies
Following the tradition of her predecessors, especially her mentor, the late former PM Shinzo Abe, Takaichi is a strong supporter of continuing to restart reactors idled since the catastrophic Fukushima tsunami in March of 2011, which spread nuclear waste across wide areas of the Pacific Ocean.
So far, more than 14 years later, only 13 of Japan's previously active 33 reactors have been returned to service, with three more expected to come online by 2030. According to Bloomberg, "That would take Japan's nuclear capacity to 16.6 gigawatts, just under half the level required to meet the government's target of having 20% to 22% of the nation's electricity come from nuclear by 2030."
Restarts are hampered by much stricter regulations and permitting, aimed at preventing another tsunami meltdown. The end result is that building new or restarting existing facilities takes years to accomplish.
Japan joins the U.S., China, France, Turkey, Poland, the United Arab Emirates and other nations that are reviving interest and research in nuclear energy as a way to meet climate goals without sacrificing reliability and security. Still, the island nation's susceptibility to tsunamis and earthquakes puts extra restraints on that industry.
Takaichi has said she supports moving the nuclear fleet toward fusion, but as IIR News has reported, despite renewed interest in the process, any real deployment is likely at least 10 years out.
Regarding solar panels, a key part of the nation's climate goals, she has said she opposes "further covering our beautiful land with foreign-made solar panels," as most of them are imported from China, which could compromise energy security.
On the security side, Takaichi has voiced support for the development of perovskite solar panels, a next-generation solar film that is more energy efficient. Japanese companies are working to remedy perovskite panels' issues of short operating life, among others. Chinese firms are also researching perovskite.
Cannon to the Right of Her, Cannon to the Left
While the LDP is a conservative party, parties further to the right (as well as those on the far left) have gained seats in recent elections. This also follows a worldwide trend, in which the rise of more-radical parties that are opposed to any kind of negotiation make arriving at a governable middle ground more and more difficult. See the U.S. budget stalemate as an example--which, while still governed by just two parties, the radical wings of both consider compromise as a defeat.
This can have the effect of keeping current official policies in place, while actually moving ahead or achieving goals is ever more difficult.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
