Sanae Takaichi, Japan's prime minister, front row center, during a group photograph with her new cabinet members, Yoshimasa Hayashi, internal affairs minister, front left, Toshimitsu Motegi, foreign minister, front right, Shinjiro Koizumi, defense minister, center left, Satsuki Katayama, finance minister, center, and Minoru Kiuchi, growth strategy minister, center right, at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. Takaichi won the parliamentary vote to become Japan's prime minister on Tuesday, making her the first woman to clinch the nations top leadership job. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg
As new premier Sanae Takaichi (pic) got to work yesterday, her government began finalising a purchase package, including US pickups, soybeans and gas, to present to President Donald Trump in trade and security talks next week, two sources said.
She will not, however, commit to any new defence spending target at the meeting, which comes as Washington presses Japan and other allies to do more, said one of the sources with knowledge of the preparations.
