By Satoshi Ogawa

8:00 JST, October 18, 2025

It is said that things that happen in the United States will happen in Japan about 10 years later. Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi’s unexpected election to the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party showed that the Japanese political scene has already become polarized. Following the pattern of the political turmoil in the United States since the 2016 presidential election, political divisions are sure to severely shake the decades-old stability of Japan’s politics.

Takaichi’s most striking speech in the recent LDP presidential election was the one she gave when each of the candidates spoke at LDP headquarters on the first day of official campaigning. She complained about foreign tourists having kicked deer in Nara Park in her home prefecture of Nara and spent more than six of her allotted 15 minutes elaborating on the issue of troublemaking foreigners and illegal immigrants. If elected, she pledged, “I will lay my life on the line to protect our ancient traditions.” Of course, she was already known as a firmly conservative politician, and harsh criticism ensued from both traditional media and social media. Pundits predicted she would fail because her stance was seen as too extreme for moderate conservative LDP members.

But this was not an accurate forecast. Even though Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was the leading candidate in almost all polls........

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