From Handbags to Hashtags, PM Takaichi’s charm sparks youth-led craze ahead of elections

Everyone is wondering about Japan’s newly elected PM Takaichi’s aura that had sparked new buzz around youth.

The handbag she carries sells out immediately, the pink pen she carries goes viral, and even her favorite snacks are in hot demand.

Japan's 64-year-old leader Sanae Takaichi has sparked an unlikely youth-led craze that could propel her to a big election win.

Director Takanori Kobayashi at Hamano, the company that makes the $900 black leather bag that Takaichi regularly totes, says he has been stunned by the young people clamoring to buy the item on a nine-month backlog.

"But since it became well known, probably through social media, we have seen a lot of interest from customers.”

There has been a similar online buzz around the pink ballpoint pen she uses to scribble notes in parliament and the shrimp rice crackers she was seen clutching while travelling.

Buzzing on social media:

Takaichi has about 2.6 million followers on X, compared with around 64,000 for Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition party.

She has built a social media following that dwarfs those of her rivals, both inside her ruling Liberal Democratic Party and across the opposition.

According to a poll released on Monday, February 2, 2026, by public broadcaster NHK, Takaichi's personal approval ratings are almost double that of the LDP, traditionally a male-dominated party.

Takaichi's viral posts stand out in Japan's usually staid politics, such as clips of her drumming to the hit song Golden from Netflix's K-Pop Demon Hunters with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung or serenading Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with 'Happy Birthday' in Italian.

When Takaichi announced the snap poll on January 19, she cast the vote as a de facto referendum on her leadership and policies, including fiscal expansion and a plan to strengthen defences to counter China's growing military might.

"Can you entrust the management of the nation to Sanae Takaichi? I ask the people directly to judge," she said.

She surprised voters and politicians with an election "to get an endorsement in a way that is actually rather presidential," said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.

Takaichi spoke about her modest upbringing outside Japan's political elites as she took inspiration from Margaret Thatcher, the daughter of Britain's first female and longest-serving modern premier.

One of Takaichi’s admirers said, “She has a clear, decisive way of speaking,” adding, “She communicates in a bright, positive way, and I think that energy resonates with young people.”

'Power of personality’ may overpower elections

Backed by her personal popularity, her ruling coalition could capture as many as 300 seats in the 465-seat lower house, polls this week showed, a remarkable turnaround given her predecessor resigned after losing control of both chambers in ballots over the last 15 months.

New poll suggests 'sanakatsu,' roughly translated as 'sanamania,' can help give Japan's first female prime minister a decisive mandate in Sunday's general election and unleash the spending plans she has promised will jolt the country's moribund economy.

What's perhaps even more surprising is the appeal of the staunchly conservative leader with voters under 30, estimated by one recent poll at over 90%. Her overall popularity stands at around 60%.

Some analysts question whether enough of the youth the prime minister has attracted will turn out to deliver the landslide that polls predict she will win on Sunday, February 8,2026.

"The power of her personality seems to be transcending politics," said David Boling, a principal at The Asia Group, a strategic advisory firm.

David Boling said even a modest win would underline how her personal appeal has single-handedly revived the fortunes of a party whose long grip on power was slipping fast.