The Internationalism

Internationalism No. 81, November 2025 Page 6 On October 20th, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) signed a coalition agreement that allowed Sanae Takaichi to be elected prime minister, the first woman to hold this position in the history of the Land of the Rising Sun. The preamble to the document emphasises the common national vision of the two parties and their desire to launch a government capable of overcoming the national crisis and realise Japan’s revival . In a situation described as the most severe and complex since 1945, autonomy is needed to support strategic stability [...] in the Far East and contribute to global security . To do so, in addition to its bilateral alliance with the US, Tokyo must assume a leading role , adopting a worldview of international politics and security grounded in realism . Rebalancing to the right for the LDP The breakdown of the coalition agree...

Internationalism No. 33, November 2021 Page 4 The taifu shizun , Japan’s typhoon season, last from May to October and is especially intense between August and September. Straits Times , a prestigious Singaporean newspaper, recently used the metaphor, invoking the rumbling of thunder and lightning bolts in relation to the announcement of the AUKUS deal (Washington’s strategic relaunch in the Indo-Pacific), and the immediate Chinese economic response, with China applying to join the CPTPP , the equivalent trading bloc to the RCEP in the Pacific. A hot autumn in the Indo-Pacific Other events have contributed to upsetting the Asian waters: the American withdrawal from Kabul, which has raised doubts about American credibility among its allies and Asian partners; a succession of North Korean ballistic tests, with the novelty of a Pyongyang cruise missile being deployed; the test conducted by Seoul of a ballistic missile aboard a conve...