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Her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, quit after the LDP suffered two big electoral defeats, reducing the LDP to a minority in both houses of parliament.
The LDP's longtime political ally, Komeito, walked out of their coalition.
The LDP signed a new coalition agreement with the opposition Japan Innovation Party.
While Takeichi is a fan of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and has broken Japan's glass ceiling, she takes a traditional view of gender roles.
Even for the conservative LDP, Takeichi's selection is widely seen as a hard swerve to the right.
Japan's parliament voted 64-year-old Sanai Takeichi in as prime minister just weeks after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, chose her as its president.
Her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, quit after the LDP suffered two big electoral defeats, reducing the LDP to a minority in both houses of parliament.
The LDP's longtime political ally, Komeito, walked out of their coalition.
The LDP signed a new coalition agreement with the opposition Japan Innovation Party.
While Takeichi is a fan of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and has broken Japan's glass ceiling, she takes a traditional view of gender roles.
Even for the conservative LDP, Takeichi's selection is widely seen as a hard swerve to the right.
The Kyoto News Agency quotes ruling Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, and opposition Japan Innovation Party officials as saying they've agreed in principle to form a coalition and will sign a formal agreement on Monday.
That puts the LDP close to having enough votes in parliament to elect their new president, Sanae Takeichi, as Japan's prime minister.
Takeichi is poised to break through Japan's biggest glass ceiling, but she's no feminist and supports a conservative definition of gender roles.
Takeichi advocates a more muscular Japanese military and takes an unapologetic view of Japan's role in World War II, both of which are causes for concern with Japan's neighbors, including South Korea and China.
Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Tokyo.