New Delhi, Oct. 21 -- Japan is set to get its first woman prime minister after social conservative Sanae Takaichi, a China hawk, clinched a last-minute deal on Monday to form a new coalition.

Takaichi, Japan's fifth PM in as many years, will replace PM Shigeru Ishiba, and will lead a minority government.

On 4 October, Takaichi won the leadership of Japan's long-governing but increasingly unpopular Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

However, six days later the Komeito party, uncomfortable about Takaichi's conservative views and an LDP slush fund scandal, quit the coalition, forcing the 64-year-old Takaichi to form an alliance with the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), which was signed on Monday evening.

(This is a developing story. Check back...