The year 2025 has arrived, and Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has some thoughts to be shared. Ishiba uploaded a brief statement titled a “New Year’s Reflection” on the Prime Minister’s Office website, which included a New Year’s greetings to the public, and a pledge to “bring about happiness for all citizens” by focusing on “three key policy areas” that he wishes to prioritize.

Out of all the issues that Japan faces, Ishiba raised foreign policy as first among his New Year’s resolutions – a priority reflective of Ishiba’s lifelong interest in the field. He has authored books on matters related to national security, and is a self-proclaimed defense expert himself. Establishing an Asian version of NATO – with the group’s primary focus being to counter China – by aligning regional partners into a military pact was one of his platform points during his bid for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidency.

While alluding to the war in Ukraine, the threat of North Korea (both top concerns among the Japanese public), and “other challenges,” Ishiba implied that his government will pursue a two-track strategy of blending diplomacy and security together. On top of that he did not forget to insert one of his campaign promises: “to improve the living and working environments as well as the treatment of Self-Defense Forces [SDF] personnel,” who he believes are the “central core” of the nation’s defense – and diplomacy too. Regarding the current state of the SDF, Ishiba finds the personnel are being underpaid and the retirees are not promised a secure enough life. He aims to remedy those conditions by passing laws and securing funds in the budget in the next main Diet session.

The second point Ishiba raised as a goal for this year is to “restore vitality to Japan as a whole.” Ishiba proposed to do this using two distinct methods. One is to change Japan starting from the rural areas. Representing the smallest prefecture in Japan, with a growing elderly – and an overall shrinking – population, Ishiba is acutely aware of the plight of rural........

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