The arrival of a new right-wing Japanese prime minister marks a political turning point far deeper than it may initially appear. Far from caricatures, Sanae Takaichi fits—smilingly—into the “pop” ideological galaxy that has spread across the world over the past decade: a polished, institutional populism that embraces state authority, the defense of national identity, and strategic sovereignty, without breaking with democratic rules or the international order. Much like some contemporary European right-wing movements, she claims a form of deft, pragmatic, almost technocratic nationalism, seeking to combine internal firmness with external respectability. She has understood that one must speak the language of the great powers in order to remain one. Japan, after all, was once the world’s second-largest economy, but has faced profound difficulties over the past thirty years: the bursting of the financial and real-estate bubble in the early 1990s, economic stagnation, low productivity, population ageing, declining birth rates, and the meteoric rise of China.
Classified among nationalist conservative currents, the new prime minister nevertheless avoids isolationism or rupture. On the contrary, her first weeks in office have been marked by an active reinsertion of Japan into the international community, accompanied by a clear message: Japan must remain a reliable, predictable actor—but one that is now more assertive than before. Her early exchanges with European leaders, including Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, were political signals in their own right. They reflect a desire to build new convergences among conservative democracies committed to national sovereignty, strategic stability, and the defense of a rebalanced international order in the face of rising authoritarian powers.
A Pacifist Japan Under Strategic Constraint
Since 1945, Japan—like Germany in postwar Europe—has lived under a historical singularity: that of a major economic and technological power voluntarily constrained in military terms. Constitutional pacifism was long presented as both a moral and political choice. Today, it is increasingly experienced as a strategic constraint in a regional environment that has become openly unstable. Between Chinese military pressure, North Korean provocations, and growing uncertainty over the permanence of U.S. engagement in Asia, Japan can no longer rely on incantatory pacifism alone.
The new prime minister clearly aligns herself with this strategic awakening. By openly challenging China over Taiwan in recent statements, she has affirmed Tokyo’s return and its willingness to act as a strong ally of the West in containing potential expansionist moves by Beijing. Without rejecting the postwar legacy, she embraces the idea that deterrence has become a condition of peace rather than its opposite. Like many powerful leaders across the globe, Sanae Takaichi reasserts a time-honored principle: to be respected, one must be feared. Her rhetoric remains measured, almost legalistic, but the direction is unmistakable—strengthening defensive capabilities, modernizing the armed forces, and deepening technological cooperation with allies. This is not a return to militarism, but a lucid adaptation to a world in which vulnerability has become a major strategic risk.
Restoring Japan’s Central Role in Asia
This shift clearly aligns with Western interests at a time when tensions in the South China Sea risk tilting in China’s favor. It is on the regional geopolitical stage that this prime minister may most profoundly reshape Japan’s trajectory. Japan possesses considerable assets: diplomatic credibility, economic power, technological excellence, cultural soft power, and a generally positive image in Southeast Asia. By strengthening partnerships with Asian democracies, investing more heavily in regional infrastructure, and offering credible alternatives to Chinese projects, Japan can once again become a strategic pivot in Asia—not through direct confrontation, but as a stabilizing partner, a provider of security, and a trusted actor: a bridge between West and East.
Relations with Europe fit squarely within this broader strategy—creating linkages between the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean, between democracies facing similar challenges of sovereignty, security, and economic resilience. Ultimately, a vision of Japan as a balancing power is taking shape: neither aligned nor isolated, but fully engaged. Beneath her sober and consensual exterior, this new prime minister may well embody a quiet yet decisive break—a Japan that stops apologizing for its existence and begins to assume its role in a world that has once again become brutal.
