A telling year reveals Takaichi's true colors: China Daily editorial

As Japan and the United States began the so-called Keen Sword 27 large-scale joint military exercises across multiple locations in southwestern Japan on Monday, protests erupted in Japan against what is seen as an acceleration of the march toward war.

It was against this backdrop that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday marked an awkward first anniversary in office.

She ought to have been prepared for such an atmosphere. She knows full well how, over her first year in office, her government has harmed the interests of the Japanese people, damaged Japan's national reputation and undermined the prospects for peace and stability in the region by paving the way for the rise of neo-militarism in Japan.

For Takaichi, the real error is not having erred; it is knowing the error and refusing to correct it.

The international community is watching, and it has every reason to remain vigilant against the historical revisionism, geopolitical opportunism, political adventurism, narrow nationalism and social obscurantism that the Takaichi government is fostering in Japan.

In a television program aired on Monday, Takaichi's predecessor, former prime minister Shigeru Ishiba criticized the Takaichi government and Japan's right-wing forces for their "dishonesty" toward history. Ishiba noted that it was Japan that started the war, causing tens of millions of deaths. He questioned how Japan can speak of "friendship", "equality" or "cooperation" with China if it cannot acknowledge these basic historical facts. Ishiba concluded that a nation so dishonest about history cannot establish solid diplomatic relations.

Masahiko Shimizu, a constitutional law professor at Nippon Sport Science University, echoed these sentiments in an interview with CGTN last week. He criticized Japan for its failure to fully reflect on its history of aggression and its continued glorification of militarism.

Since assuming office as Japan's first female prime minister on Oct 21 last year, Takaichi's tenure has not been a cause for celebration. Instead, it marks a year in which Japan has moved further down the path of neo-militarism, threatening regional security, eroding the postwar international order, and inflicting real costs on the Japanese economy and the Japanese people.

Takaichi made an offering to the "war-criminal shrine" on Saturday in her official capacity as prime minister, and sent a monetary offering to it on Monday, despite strong opposition from neighboring countries. To all peace-loving people, Japanese politicians' repeated homages and visits to the shrine are an unmistakable signal that they refuse to honestly confront Japan's past aggression.

Despite the "justifications" offered by Takaichi and her Cabinet for their tributes to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 convicted Japanese Class-A war criminals from World War II are "honored", they cannot conceal their true intentions of rehabilitating war criminals, covering up wartime crimes, distorting historical facts and accelerating Japan's remilitarization.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning stressed that such acts expose the deep-rooted misconceptions of Japanese politicians regarding historical issues and their sinister attempt to exonerate war criminals, reverse the verdict on aggression, and pave the way for remilitarization. Making China's position clear, Mao said that China firmly opposes and strongly condemns Japan's moves concerning the Yasukuni Shrine and has lodged stern representations and strong protests.

Apart from worsening ties with regional countries, the wrong trajectory on which Takaichi is leading Japan has also come at a high cost domestically. Japan's defense budget for fiscal 2026 has surpassed 9 trillion yen ($57 billion), the 14th consecutive annual increase and the fastest expansion in the postwar era. Meanwhile, ordinary Japanese face rising prices of food and utilities. Growing concerns over a Cabinet scandal of vote-buying, economic pressures, doubts about the fiscal deficit caused by a consumption tax cut and scrutiny of her beggar-thy-neighbor policy are all reflected in Takaichi's falling approval rating.

Japan's neo-militarists know exactly what they are doing: steering the country toward another abyss of war. Takaichi has sharply accelerated that drift in her first year. Since Japan's war machine led to a regional catastrophe in WWII, the question now is how much longer the nation will give her to repeat the grave mistake.