Japan’s 1st Woman Prime Minister Owns A Customized Toyota Supra
Japanese politician Sanae Takaichi recently made huge headlines when she was elected to lead the country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The 64-year-old was then poised to become Japan’s first woman prime minister. For this, however, she would have to confront a complex political landscape and strengthen its coalition with Komeito, the centrist, pacifist party. According to the latest reports, the Komeito party has stated that it will withdraw from the coalition. This has, in a way, put Takaichi’s confirmation as Japan’s prime minister in peril. This longtime politician has a great taste in cars and has owned a 1991 Toyota Supra 2.5GT Twin-Turbo Limited for over 22 years. It was, in fact, her first ‘new car’.
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Takaichi has always been a petrolhead and bought her Mk3 Supra Turbo in the 90s, when she was 30 years old. It then had a sticker price of ¥4.3 million (approximately $32,000 in 1991 US dollars). Recollecting her purchase, Takaichi told Daily Shincho: "I worked hard and saved up money to buy my first new car. I was looking forward to it even before it was released”.
Her father used to work in a company that had an affiliation with Toyota, and this likely fueled the purchase decision as well. She traded her used Celica XX (another Toyota!) for the brand-new Supra Turbo. Interestingly, the Celica XX was also called the Celica Supra in Japan and was its immediate predecessor.
Takaichi’s Supra Turbo had the stunning Super White exterior colour with Pearl Mica finish, while the cabin was finished in Burgundy leather (rare in the Japanese market). Back in the day, getting the White body colour was difficult. Takaichi said: “It took a long time to get the metallic pearl white one, so I waited a long time."
She opted for the four-speed automatic transmission and even installed a Panasonic navigation system in it. It was also given several TOM’s stickers, diversity antennas, export-market side markers, and even Dunlop Le Mans 702 tyres.
It had a front engine, rear wheel drive layout, and featured a 1JZ-GTE 2.5-litre twin-turbo inline-six engine that made 276hp and 364 Nm of torque. Reports say that this Supra now has over 77,000 km on its odometer. Back in the day, Takaichi was seen cruising around in the Supra, campaigning and ‘driving to work’ in it. Takaichi is from Nara City in Japan. She used to drive from Nara to Tokyo, covering a distance of over 470 km, in the Supra.
Over the years, she scaled heights in her career, but kept the Supra. She drove it for over two decades. The car was then kept in storage for another 10 years. Then, the Nara Toyota dealer restored it to a new-like form, in a 10-month project. It used parts from the GR Heritage Parts Project for this. Ten volunteer automotive technicians worked on the car.
Notably, the Nara Toyota Group is known to be quite enthusiastic about taking up classic car restoration projects. It has done several such projects including the first-generation Corolla and first-gen Crown. The dealer opened the Mahoroba Museum in 2021 to proudly exhibit the completed vehicles. Takaichi’s Supra drew both car enthusiasts and her followers into the museum.
This Japanese politician is also a motorcycle enthusiast. She used to own a Kawasaki Z400GP in the 1980s. It had a 400cc engine that made 48hp. Recollecting her time on the saddle, Takaichi Sankei Shimbun newspaper “During high school, I worked hard at part-time jobs to earn money for college. I got a motorcycle license and rode a large motorcycle for transportation."