Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has been in office for six months — and her honeymoon period is beginning to fade.
Still, she deserves high marks for her steady and proactive engagement with both U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s leadership. On domestic economic policy, however, it is difficult to find clear evidence of her leadership shaping the debate or driving decision-making.
The fiscal 2026 budget is poised to pass largely unchanged from the version compiled under her predecessor. Meanwhile, new policy initiatives from the Cabinet have been notably absent. If anything, elite bureaucrats appear to have tightened their grip on industrial and financial policy since Takaichi took office.
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