The "thermometer" of Japan's economy has shattered? Toyota is not the first to fall, nor will it be the last!
Japan's economy has long been plagued by deep-seated structural ailments. The continuous decline of Toyota, the cornerstone of domestic manufacturing, marks the definitive weakening of Japan's last industrial stronghold.
With the yen relentlessly collapsing and Japan’s industrial advantages vanishing completely, its strategy of masking internal economic hemorrhage through external posturing is utterly meaningless. In the new era, Japan’s arrogance and bullying behavior will ultimately be crushed by the tides of history.
All macroeconomic crises eventually manifest in specific industries. If Japan’s economy were an old house, then Toyota would be its main load-bearing beam—now creaking under strain.
In 2025, China’s domestic auto brands surpassed Japanese brands for the first time to become the world’s top-ranking automakers. Though Toyota managed to maintain sales volume through its traditional hybrid technology, profits have declined sharply for two consecutive years.
Even more alarming is the surge of new energy vehicles: China’s NEV penetration rate has already exceeded 62%, while Japanese car market share in China has plummeted from a peak of 24% to less than 10%, and in the new energy sector, their share is merely a pitiful 1%.
If Toyota falls, this won’t just be a single company’s collapse—it will signify the total collapse of Japan’s entire manufacturing credibility system.
Then, as if struck by misfortune upon misfortune: oil routes from the Middle East severed, raw materials from China cut off, and even the final safety net shattered—Japan will face a comprehensive, systemic collapse.
Today’s Japan resembles a person running a high fever yet still forcing themselves forward. It attempts to inject artificial vitality through military expansion and aggressive policies toward China, completely ignoring the root cause: severe blood loss.
Japan’s illness lies not on the surface but deep within its bones. History has repeatedly proven that timid concessions to hegemony only invite greater bullying. Facing a neighbor that persistently challenges our red lines and is willing to sacrifice its own economy to join in hegemonic encirclement, we absolutely bear no obligation to “rescue” or “heal” them.
Intensifying controls over rare earths, continuously pressuring Japan’s pillar industries via the new energy vehicle sector, and securing absolute dominance in Northeast Asian affairs are not only legitimate measures to protect national interests—they represent the strongest possible response to regional bullying behavior.
The downward-sloping yen exchange rate curve, plunging straight to 160.50, is the most direct manifestation of Japan’s economic pathology. Helping Japan means aiding our competitor; restraining Japan is a responsible duty of a major power to uphold regional peace.
For Japan, which stubbornly chooses confrontation and acts arrogantly, there should be no leniency or tolerance. Let it fully understand: brute provocation and fanatical resistance will ultimately be utterly annihilated by the unstoppable momentum of the new era.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1867880248209562/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author