WhenJapans first feminine prime ministerstaged a shock drum sessionwith visiting South Korean PresidentLee Jae-myunglast month, it created ripples throughout the Sea of Japan, marking a brand new rhythm in Tokyos diplomacy.
Wearing matching blue shirts, Japanese Prime MinisterSanae Takaichiand Lee banged outK-pophits because the cameras caught Japans 64-year-old chief bobbing her head to the beat with a face-splitting smile. As the video clip went viral in each nations, worldwide news retailers gushed a few newdrumstick diplomacyturning into acymbal of unity.
Before changing into prime minister in October, Takaichi was an everyday customer to Japans Yasukuni Shrine, which honours convicted conflict criminals together with 2.5 million conflict lifeless and is considered as a potent image of the countrys militarist previous.
More than a decade in the past, when Takaichis political mentor, then prime ministerShinzo Abe, visited the shrine, it sparked livid reactions fromChinaandSouth Korea, the place reminiscences of Japanesecolonialismand Tokyos refusal to acknowledge the atrocities of the early twentieth century have left festering wounds.
Takaichis rise to the top of energy in a deeply patriarchal nation could have been enabled by Abe, Japans longest-serving prime minister who wasassassinated in 2022. But in model, if not substance, Takaichi as prime minister has taken issues extra cautiously. Since taking workplace, she has prevented a go to to the Yasukuni Shrine.
That was earlier than she led her get together to a thumping supermajority victory inSundays snap ballot.With her conservative Liberal Democratic Paty (LDP) sweeping greater than two-thirds of parliamentary seats within the decrease home, Takaichi now has the flexibility to offer her hawkish instincts a free rein.
Read extraJapan’s Takaichi clinches supermajority with thumping election victory
During an interview with Fuji Television on Sunday, Takaichi stated she needed to create an atmosphere to permit a Yasukuni go to that may be understood by neighbouring nations.
But China, Japans largest buying and selling associate, is unlikely to be understanding. Barely two weeks after taking workplace in October, Takaichi ignited a diplomatic storm when she was requested in parliament about her place if China used army drive in opposition toTaiwan. That would represent a survival-threatening state of affairs for Japan, Takaichi replied, breaking a practice for Tokyo, which is often extra circumspect on Taiwan points.
Her reply, which instructed that Japan may intervene militarily if China sought to grab the self-ruled island, sparked a confrontation andmassive Chinese army workouts in Decemberthat had been aimed to showcase Beijing’s potential to chop off Taiwan from exterior help.
Takaichi is understood to be a China hawk, which has alarmed a few of Japans doves. The outcomes of Sundays vote, nonetheless, present that almost all of Japanese voters are prepared for a extra muscular international coverage to comprise Beijings territorial ambitions.
In Japan, Takaichi has a formidable popularity with monikers to match. An admirer ofMargaret Thatcher, Takaichi can be well-known for having carried a number of drum sticks throughout her heavy-metal days, as she would break them throughout intense performances. When she grew to become Japans first feminine prime minister, headlines proclaimed the Iron Maiden had risen to Iron Lady.
It was an unlikely rise for the daughter of working-class mother and father within the historic imperial capital of Nara.
Heavy metallic and bikes
Born in Nara on March 7, 1961, Takaichi was raised by conservative mother and father who taught her prewar ethical values. Her mom was a police officer and her father labored at a equipment maker.
As a baby, she loved listening to her mother and father recite an 1890 imperial doc praising paternalistic household values and loyalty to the federal government, Takaichi stated in 2012.
After graduating from highschool, she was accepted by various prestigious Tokyo universities, however she wasnt allowed to enroll in any of the colleges within the capital. Her mother and father made her attend Kobe University whereas residing at house, which was regular in these days for single daughters of conservative households.
In 1987, she received a sponsorship that enabled her to go to the US to work as congressional fellow for then Democratic congresswoman Pat Schroeder. Takaichi returned to Japan two years later with classes realized by observing Schroeder, who was the primary feminine consultant elected from Colorado.
After returning to Japan from the US, a younger Takaichi labored as a tv persona, an creator and a critic.
She has a really distinctive upbringing for a politician within the sense that she comes from a working-class household, stated Kristi Govella from the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies in an interview with FRANCE 24. She was a heavy metallic drummer. She’s an avid motorcyclist and shes simply not within the mould of the standard LDP politician that many citizens have turn out to be fairly bored with in recent times. She has come onto the scene regardless of potential doubts about her potential to guide as a result of she wasnt an enormous determine on the nationwide scene. And she’s actually made a splash.
Little lady in brief skirts
But her rise within the patriarchal world of Japanese politics was not a straightforward one. Takaichi was first elected to parliament in 1993 after defying her mother and father opposition. Some voters insulted her as just a little lady, she stated in 2023, recalling her first marketing campaign.
In these days, ladies who weren’t thought of sufficiently old had been unwelcome, she stated. She additionally confronted groundless allegations of being a mistress of a senior politician, and criticism typically from ladies for carrying heels, flashy jewelry and brief skirts.
I’m who I’m, Takaichi stated. The solely strategy to show myself is with the work I do.
Her work ethic has generally been at odds with the nationwide temper. Takaichis vow, earlier than she took workplace in October, that she would work, work, work, work, and work drew criticism from psychological well being staff and a number of other abnormal Japanese in a rustic infamous for its lengthy working hours. Lawyers representing individuals who died from overwork described her feedback as unhelpful, and reviews of her calling conferences at 3am raised alarm bells about her well being in some quarters.
Responding to the criticisms, Takaichi stated her feedback had been misinterpreted. I had no intention of encouraging individuals to overwork or suggesting that working lengthy hours is a advantage, she stated, including she was merely making an attempt to speak her willpower to be an efficient chief.
Socially conservative, fiscally much less so
With her brief, cropped hair and her ardour for heavy metallic and bikes, its simple to view Takaichi as a daring non-conformist. But that may be a misjudgment, in keeping with Japan consultants.
Takaichi helps the imperial familys male-only succession and opposes same-sex marriage in addition to amending the Nineteenth-century legislation requiring married {couples} to have the identical surname, beneath which most girls are pressured into abandoning theirs.
She tends to have fairly socially conservative views, stated Govella. But the prime minister additionally has a political nostril for points that resonate with the voters. The attention-grabbing factor is that we have not heard a whole lot of emphasis on that social conservatism. Since she’s come to be prime minister, she appears to be making an attempt to weigh the completely different issues of voters throughout points, and she or he appears to be precisely gauging that what voters actually need to see is a response on the financial facet, greater than her pushing ahead on any particular social points.
Watch extraJapan’s Iron Lady: What will Takaichi do together with her landslide win?
Takaichi could look as much as Thatcher, however financial insurance policies don’t mirror these of the fiscally conservative former British chief. As an Abe protg, Japans prime minister advocates boosting authorities spending whereas additionally selling a gross sales tax reduce.
This alarms conservative economists, who warn that Japan should trim its nationwide debt.
But with regards to defence spending, Takaichi has an ally in US PresidentDonald Trump, who welcomed her pledge to push Japans annual protection price range to double 2022 ranges to 2 p.c of its gross home product by March.
Takaichi is ready to go to Washington to satisfy with Trump on the White House on March 19. The US president introduced the journey on social media as heendorsed the prime ministerahead of Sundays election.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
Originally printed on France24