Sanae Takaichi, the new Prime Minister of Japan, took office on Oct. 21, after former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba quickly resigned. President Donald Trump met with the new Prime Minister Takaichi in Japan just a week later.
Senae Takaichi is 64 and is “one of the most conservative people in Japan’s conservative LDP,” said Jeffrey Hall. Takaichi has supported tougher immigration restrictions and more hawkish policies for China.
People have drawn comparisons between her and the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Takaichi has frequently expressed her admiration for Thatcher, and even often wears blue pantsuits in tribute to her. She also played the drums in a band while in college, once belted a rock anthem on national television, and has an attraction to motorcycles and cars.
Unlike many other politicians and Prime Ministers, Takaichi does not come from a political family. She studied very hard when she was young and made it into some very elite universities, but her parents refused to pay her tuition, preferring to go to a two-year college.
Takaichi has spent many years in politics. She was elected to parliament in 1993, representing her hometown of Nara. Three years later, she joined the LDP, a far-right Japanese political party, and went on to serve in numerous key government positions.
Some of Takaichi’s views have been seen as controversial. She has reportedly downplayed Japan’s aggression in wars and shown her contempt for immigrants and tourists. She has even supported an anti-espionage law, referring to Chinese residents in Japan who could be possible spies of the Chinese government.
Experts say that Takaichi could be Japan’s best bet for winning over U.S. President Donald Trump, despite him being a man who has unnerved her Japanese predecessors. “This will be a relationship that will be stronger than ever before”, Trump said before he met with Takaichi. Trump had spoken before he visited Takaichi, calling her “a highly respected person of great wisdom and strength.”, and told reporters that she is “very friendly” and “beautiful”.
Professor Jeff Kingston says, “She’s going to ‘pull out all the stops’”, “I don’t know if that means cheeseburgers on the Ginza, but it will certainly mean gifts, flattery, and pomp”
It is also expected that Takaichi will announce a shipbuilding deal with the U.S., and her government has allegedly begun working on a package that would increase imports to the U.S. of soybeans and gas, two things Trump needs, with a lag of both products going on.
Takaichi has openly praised and flattered Trump, worshipping him for ending the war in Gaza, and even saying she would nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Takaichi has some very important reasons for her flattery of Trump. In Japan’s constitution, Article Nine states that Japan cannot use war or the threat of force to solve international disputes. This can become a huge problem for Japan, as they are very vulnerable to threats from other countries and cannot grow their military, so they has very little self-defense.
This article of the constitution was put into place by the U.S. By getting Trump to change this section, Takaichi can grow Japan’s military, and have much more defense against external threats.
Takaichi isn’t the only one who benefits from this, though. By letting Japan grow its military while having an agreement with it, Trump can grow the U.S. military, get more money from Japan, and get better trade deals while having less of a burden of growing and maintaining the U.S. military.
