Sanae Takaichi

So the 'backfiring' the author referred to turned out to be statements of support issued by the Taiwanese government (did anyone expected them to act otherwise?) and the launching of a ferry service between Japan and Taiwan? Okay? More on reddit.com

If only Japan would popularize the term efficient working, rather than just working. More on reddit.com

There is simply no other practical option out there for Japan. If Japan lets the CCP take Taiwan, the biggest trade and supply sea route south of Taiwan will be in control of China. China could force Japan to do whatever it wants by blocking that route or just making things difficult, like seizing ships or imposing fees. Not to mention if there is any military conflicts, Japan can be starved of oil, food and other important manufacturing raw materials. China could even force Japan to switch sides to the authoritarian camp and cut ties with the US if it really wants to. So China having Taiwan basically means a knife to the neck of Japan all the time, threatening Japan in a way that even the US cannot. You can argue about what's wrong with that, Japan is sort of under the US right now anyway. But many of you do not realize that Japan would rather answer and work with the US than China. Japan nowadays is liberal democracy and has fundamental value alignment with the US. You really can't expect Japan like going authoritarian and start censoring their citizens now. More on reddit.com

I don't think many Japanese people think that much about politics in general. A hot take would be that most Japanese people probably don't want to see the SDF deployed anywhere, and that most people who think about it probably don't want Taiwan to be invaded by China. As for Takaichi's remarks? They were widely covered and generally dismissed as an off-the-cuff remark during a prolonged question session. Personally I don't doubt it is her personal opinion, and it would not surprise me in the least to know that the government had (highly classified, never to be discussed) plans to participate in the defence of Taiwan should it come to that. If anything I suspect more people (including those in China) are annoyed that Takaichi forgot to keep the fiction alive that Japan does not have a military, would not defend Taiwan, and is not wary of Chinese encroachment. More on reddit.com