Meiji Restoration 2.0? Japan looks set to reinvent itself under the bold leadership of Sanae Takaichi

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A photo last month of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wearing a bright electric blue outfit and playing the drums alongside Korean President Lee Jae Myung is only one of many of Japan’s prime minister to go viral. The image is also remarkable because Korea and Japan have long had a strained relationship.

The camaraderie between the two leaders playing a K-pop song radiated out of the photograph in a manner akin to speech balloons. Takaichi’s hands were above her shoulders, as if she had just won a 100-metre sprint. In a sense, the Japanese prime minister has.

As the victor of an internal party vote to become prime minister in October, Takaichi lacked a popular mandate and was momentarily enfeebled further when she lost the support of a coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Nonetheless, when she was asked in parliament in November what Japan would do if Taiwan was threatened by a blockade by Beijing, she responded by saying Japan would have to intervene. This turned out to be both politically savvy and a forthright statement of her views.

Takaichi began to climb in opinion polls. Beijing’s usual playbook of intemperate language and economic bullying in response played to her advantage as Takaichi refused to soften her statement even as China clamped down on Japanese seafood imports and sought to limit supplies of rare earths to Japan. The 64-year-old in January called for a snap election, well ahead of schedule, and led the LDP to a two-thirds majority, a margin never achieved in Japan’s post-World War II history.