Takaichi never hid the script: she calls herself “Abe’s political daughter.”
- Economic plank: re-heat Abenomics verbatim: ultra-loose money, public-works splurge, weak-yen export boosterism.
- Personnel: she kept Abe’s old finance & security team in place and even uses his speech-writers.
- Shrine visits: Yasukuni within weeks of taking office, the first sitting PM to do so since Abe 2013.
The message is deliberate: “If it still polls well, why re-brand?”
2. Taiwan as Abe’s unfinished chapter
Abe’s most explosive line — “A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency” — was uttered after he quit, because even he feared the diplomatic fallout while in office.
Takaichi jumped the gate: in her first policy speech she declared Japan would treat a cross-strait conflict as a “survival-threatening situation” under the security laws Abe himself rammed through in 2015.
Why?
- Instant hawk credibility: reminds the LDP right that she finished the homework Abe left on the desk.
- Distraction economics: core inflation is >3% and real wages are still falling; nothing rallies the base like an external “threat.”
- Trump card: Donald Trump arrives Tokyo 27 Oct; mirroring Abe’s 2016 bear-hug gives her the photo-op she needs to look “statesmanlike” despite leading a minority government.
3. The risks of cos-play without the safety net
Abe had two things Takaichi lacks:
- A super-majority in both Diet houses.
- A friendly (or at least predictable) Beijing that swallowed many provocations to keep supply-chains open.
Today China is hitting back in real time:
- Tourism boycott already signaled; Chinese carriers cutting Japan routes.
- State media calling her “the worst PM for destroying peaceful diplomacy.”
- Even coalition partner Kōmeitō is nervous; business lobbies begged her to “tone it down.”
4. Bottom line
Takaichi is running the ultimate “fake it till you make it” premiership: borrow Abe’s brand, borrow his rhetoric, borrow his enemies & hope the performance alone convinces LDP factions she deserves a real mandate at the next election.
