Takaichi takes on Trump

16 Mar 2026 03:06 PM

EXPERT COMMENT

Iran adds a new layer of difficulty to an increasingly unstable US–Japan relationship, as the Japanese prime minister prepares to visit Washington.

If President Donald Trump is expecting effusive praise for his war on Iran when Japan’s prime minister arrives in Washington on Thursday, he is likely to be disappointed. Sanae Takaichi, re-elected in February in a landslide victory, says she intends to be ‘candid’ in pointing out that Japan’s oil-dependent economy is suffering badly from the conflict. 

Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, has won a remarkable mandate and is known for her conservative policies and forthright views. But she cannot afford to be cavalier about this White House visit. Oval Office encounters have become bear traps for many foreign leaders. 

She will want reassurance about the US’s security umbrella, the cornerstone of Japanese foreign policy since 1945. Trump is likely to repeat instead his demand for Japan to pay more for its own defence. 

That exacerbates the already difficult questions facing Japan: how assertive should it choose to be with China? And how can it make more of its other alliances around the world if the US has become a less reliable partner?

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