Japan’s New Prime Minister Is Already Facing Her First Crisis

Japan’s New Prime Minister Is Already Facing Her First Crisis

Sanae Takaichi may be relishing confrontation with China.

Takaichi sits at a desk with a microphone behind a placard that says "Japan." She wears a white business jacket and is holding a plastic folder. November 25, 2025, 4:09 PM Comment icon View Comments ( )

Japan’s newly installed prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has quickly waded into her first foreign-policy quagmire. Japan’s relationship with China is at a new low following her comments over what Tokyo might do in the event of an attack on Taiwan by Beijing.

The saga began on Nov. 7, when Takaichi—a foreign-policy hawk—spoke of a number of potential scenarios for a Chinese attack on Taiwan and the possible role that Japan could take to help U.S. forces under t