【コラム】高市早苗総理とメタル：鉄の意志と音の政治学

Column en Heavy Metal History Metal Noise

25 Oct 2025

Prologue: Political sensibilities born from the roar of metal

Text: mmr｜Theme: A politician who loves heavy metal—Sanae Takaichi.How has her musical sensibility given a steely resonance to her words, policies, and ideas?

Sanae Takaichi is often described as a conservative,''strong-minded,’’ and a fighting woman.''However, at its root lies the impact of the heavy metal music he heard when he was young.Metal is a music of passion and construction, an art that confines passion within order.Her school band played songs by Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, and she also likes to listen to bands like Judas Priest, and these sensibilities form theacoustic skeleton’’ of her political language and cultural outlook.

Chapter 1: Metal, a spiritual device

Metal is an art of passion, but also an art of order and construction.His style of controlling strong emotions through mathematical constructs is consistent with Takaichi’s political speaking style.

Metal structure	Takaichi political structure
Roar (passion/anger)	Passion for national and cultural defense
Riff (repetition)	Repetitive syntax of policy slogans
Solo (development)	Improvisational emphasis during speech
Break (silence)	Controlling pauses and breathing

Just as metal is “an art that turns chaos into order,” Takaichi’s speech resonates as music of words that syntaxizes passion.

Chapter 2: Building a Voice——The Politics of Metallic Voice

For politicians, their ``voice’’ is an instrument that embodies their ideas.Takaichi’s vocalization is particularly low and stable among female politicians.Acoustically, it is based on the mid-low range (approximately 170-180Hz), with little pitch fluctuation, reminiscent of the “steel control” in metal vocals.

Voice is the art of making your emotions resonate without letting them run wild.'' As symbolized by these words, she lives politics as aniron structure.’’

Chapter 3: Metal worldview and national view

Metal deals with extreme themes such as mythology, war, religion, and death.It is a theme that resonates with the fundamental issues of human society, such as national defense,''cultural defense,’’ and ``freedom of expression’’ in real politics.

Mr. Takaichi’s emphasis on cultural independence,''technological sovereignty,’’ and national independence'' sounds like anordered rebellion’’ played by metal.Her view of the nation is not just a conservative defense, but a constructive ideology that aims to establish a spiritual identity.

Chapter 4: Metal and conservative thought—Passion in order

At first glance, conservative ideology and metal seem to be contradictory.However, the common points between the two are order to destroy order'' andaesthetics in strength.’’

Like Judas Priest, music that confines explosive passion within an orderly rhythm.This is exactly like Mr. Takaichi’s political stance.Although the logical structure is cold, there is an intense “combustion” behind it.

“In cold construction lies true heat.” This phrase applies to both metal and politics.Through the character Sanae Takaichi, we can reconsider “politics that lives like sound.”

Chapter 5: Cultural Policy and Metal Ethics

As Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Mr. Takaichi was in charge of broadcasting, communications, and copyright policy for a long time.Consistent among them was the awareness of protecting the rights of creators'' andcultural sovereignty.’’

In the metal world, there is a DIY spirit of protecting one’s own sound without relying on labels.Her policy was also based on the philosophy that the nation should have its own cultural infrastructure.Even in the music industry, this perspective of “independence and protection” is extremely modern in the era of distribution, copyright, and AI generation.

Chapter 6: Women and Metal——Elegance of Iron

Female vocalists in metal have used their voices as weapons to open up new worldviews (for example, Arch Enemy’s Angela Gossow).Takaichi has also attracted attention as a woman who uses her voice strategically in politics.

Her “strength” is not an attack, but one of calm control.It can be said that he is a politician who embodies the “elegance of steel” in metal.In that sense, Sanae Takaichi may be the ``lead vocalist of the band Koku.’’

Chapter 7: Politics as Metal Structure

The structure of her speech resembles the structure of a metal song.

flowchart TD A["Intro: Quiet presentation of logic"] B["Riff: Repetition of core theme"] C["Solo: Passionate Emphasis"] D["Break: A moment of silence/modulation"] E["Outro: Consequences to Order"] A --> B --> C --> D --> E

Within this structure, Mr. Takaichi plays with ``intellect that controls passion.’’

Final Chapter: Towards politics that is not afraid of noise

Just as metal has evolved by accepting noise, mature politics also becomes stronger when it embraces “unusual sounds.”The existence of Sanae Takaichi symbolizes the “acceptance of noise” in Japanese politics.The noise doesn’t sound like chaos, but creative distortion.

``New sounds can only be born from silence.’’ This phrase applies to both metal and politics.Through the character Sanae Takaichi, we can reconsider “politics that lives like sound.”

Chronology: Sanae Takaichi and the history of metal resonance (1980–2025)

graph TD A1980["1980: Exposure to loudness and Judas Priest"] --> A1983["1983: Graduated from the Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Business Administration, Kobe University"] A1983 --> A1984["1984: Joined Matsushita School of Government and Economics as a fifth-year student"] A1984 --> A1992["1992: First elected (independent)"] A1992 --> A1993["1993: Joined the Liberal Democratic Party via the Liberal Party and Shinshin Party"] A1993 --> A2002["2002: Appointed Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, promotes broadcasting and copyright policy"] A2002 --> A2014["2014: Leading the discussion on freedom of expression and broadcasting ethics"] A2014 --> A2021["2021: Liberal Democratic Party presidential election calls for 'defense of culture and support for creation'"] A2021 --> A2025["2025: Considering policy to integrate culture and technology"]

Illustration: Sanae Takaichi’s “metal structure” correlation diagram

flowchart LR A["Metal Aesthetics (Hard, Constructed, Rebellious)"] B["Voice Construction (Metallic Voice)"] C["Cultural policy (creators' rights and freedom of expression)"] D["View of the nation (order and independence)"] E["Femininity (elegance of steel)"] A --> B --> C --> D --> E

References/Citations

Sanae Takaichi “Toward a Beautiful, Strong, and Growing Country” (PHP Institute, 2014)

Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest Recommended Albums

Band	Album	Year of release	Features and highlights
Black Sabbath	Black Sabbath	1970	A work that is said to be the birth of the world’s first heavy metal.The darkening of the blues and the church bell SE are symbolic.
	Paranoid	1970	A masterpiece that established the prototype of metal.Speed, sociability, and seriousness coexist.
	Master of Reality	1971	Evolution of heavy bass with drop D tuning.The father of doom metal.
Deep Purple	Deep Purple in Rock	1970	A masterpiece that laid the foundation for hard rock.A fusion of classic compositional beauty and explosive power.
	Fireball	1971	More aggressive and experimental.It has a strong tempo change and blues feel.
	Machine Head	1972	A level of perfection that remains in rock history.The golden ratio of riff and groove.
Judas Priest	Sad Wings of Destiny	1976	A metal aesthetic of melancholy and lyricism is established.The prototype of twin lead.
	Sin After Sin	1977	Major debut work.Produced by Roger Glover (Deep Purple).A dramatic development.
	Stained Class	1978	The beginnings of speed metal.Precise and cold sound image.