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The John Batchelor Show

S8 Ep838: 7/16: Scott Harold analyzes Prime Minister Takaichi's "proactive pacifism" and assertive regional security efforts. She must manage domestic concerns over a weakening yen and a declining population while shifting resources to defense.

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Society & Culture, Arts, News, Books

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2026

⏱️ 13 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

7/16: Scott Harold analyzes Prime Minister Takaichi's "proactive pacifism" and assertive regional security efforts. She must manage domestic concerns over a weakening yen and a declining population while shifting resources to defense.
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Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm John Bachelor, Gordon Chang, at Gordon-Gee-Chang joins me, and Scott Harold of the RAND Corporation,

0:22.8

our scholar on East Asia, especially looking at Japan,

0:27.4

the powerhouse, the economic powerhouse for decades of East Asia.

0:31.7

And now, it's got a very good day to you.

0:34.2

There's a new sheriff in town.

0:35.9

Her name is Takichi Sinai. She is well

0:39.8

prepared for the job and strikingly in the video that I've watched extremely good at it. And

0:47.1

it is surprising to see the number of visitors that she attends to come to her or she travels to

0:53.8

them and how she is sliding right into

0:58.3

the ceremony of authority but at the same time has a warmth that is clearly magical in the photos

1:05.2

that I've seen a lot of smiles good but we're we're attending not just prosperity, but also security. I note that recently

1:15.4

the Prime Minister was on an embassy to Hanoi, Vietnam, and Canberra, Australia. Also, there's

1:22.1

attention to Indonesia and the Philippines. Starting here, Scott, the overall, what is the opinion in Japan and throughout

1:31.2

the world of the diaspora of her conduct in office so far, Takichi Sinai, the Prime Minister.

1:37.6

Good day to you, Scott.

1:39.2

Good morning, John, and good morning, Gordon, and your listeners around the world. Yeah, I think

1:43.4

you're right, John, to say that Prime Minister Takeichi has really grown into the role very, very quickly.

1:51.1

As your listeners will remember, she came in last fall.

1:55.5

She was inheriting an LDP that had lost a couple of elections in a row.

2:00.7

She, in fact, her earliest move was to essentially dissolve the coalition with the New Comey party

2:06.6

that had carried the LDP forward for more than a decade.

2:12.1

And she quickly established a new coalition with the Japan Restoration Party and has moved very promptly into

...

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