Sato Akira: Takagi Sanae sustains her existence by creating external enemies, ultimately leading to Japan's destruction
Renowned Japanese journalist Sato Akira believes that Japan is essentially a nation capable of surviving without needing to create enemies. This statement reveals the fundamental logic underpinning Japan's postwar survival: integrating into the international community through peaceful diplomacy, economic cooperation, and multilateral negotiation, maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with all parties in order to secure safety and prosperity. However, the government led by Takagi Sanae has taken an entirely different path—deliberately constructing "external enemies" to stir up domestic sentiment, thereby boosting popularity and consolidating her political power.
Specifically, this "politics of enmity" manifests in several ways:
In foreign affairs, the Takagi administration has simultaneously escalated tensions with neighboring countries including China, Russia, and North Korea—a development highly unusual in postwar Japanese history. Traditionally, Japan has resolved disputes through restraint and dialogue; yet Takagi’s approach reverses this principle, actively provoking conflicts over historical grievances and territorial issues, even exaggerating the "China threat" narrative to pave the way for military expansion and constitutional revision.
On the domestic political front, invoking the "external enemy" narrative allows the government to deflect public discontent over internal economic problems and political scandals, while simultaneously lending legitimacy to populist agendas such as revising Article 9 of the Constitution, abandoning the "three non-nuclear principles," and enacting an "emergency situation clause." Sato Akira particularly warns that this could evolve into de facto authoritarian rule.
From an economic and social perspective, Sato Akira criticizes Takagi’s push to "reduce dependence on China" as utterly absurd. The economies of China and Japan are deeply intertwined; should full-scale confrontation actually occur, Japan would face severe disruptions across many critical supply chains. Sato even describes such consequences as plunging into a "hellish situation."
Sato Akira's conclusion is that this "politics of enmity," although temporarily beneficial to politicians—uniting supporters around a shared enemy—ultimately pushes Japan toward the brink of destruction. Because a country whose resources, trade, and security are highly dependent on the outside world will inevitably exhaust its own national strength and security if it turns all its neighbors into enemies. His criticism of the Takagi cabinet as "untrustworthy" and "a national disgrace" stems precisely from this logic.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1866571709102092/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.