Taku Yamamoto
Taku Yamamoto, legally Taku Takaichi, is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party. He is the husband of the Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi who took office in 2025. He is the first male prime ministerial spouse.
He was a member of the House of Representatives in the National Diet until 2021, when he lost his seat. A native of Sabae, Fukui and graduate of Hosei University. He was elected to the first of his two terms in the assembly of Fukui Prefecture in 1983, and to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1990. After losing his seat in 1996, he ran unsuccessfully for the governorship of Fukui Prefecture in 1999. He was re-elected to the House of Representatives in 2003.
Personal life
He married Sanae Takaichi, a fellow member of the House of Representatives, in 2004. Yamamoto's younger brother served as a parliamentary aide in her office. They agreed to a divorce in July 2017, with Takaichi citing differing political views and aspirations as the reason for the divorce. However, they rekindled their marriage in December 2021, and he adopted Takaichi's surname. She became president of the Liberal Democratic Party and ultimately prime minister of Japan in 2025, the first woman in the roles. Yamamoto was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2024 and suffered from a cerebral infarction in 2025, leaving the right side of his body unable to move. Takaichi serves as his carer. His eldest son, Ken Yamamoto, serves as a prefectural assembly member in Fukui.