Takaichi and Meloni, different but so similar

In Ginza, in the most elegant and luxurious neighborhood of Tokyo the news that has made its mark in recent days record after record on the Nikkei indexis greeted with Japanese sobriety. Translated, it’s as if nothing had happened. Yesterday, the prime minister Sanae Takaichi announced that soon yes will go to the polls again less than a year and a half after the vote.

Because Takaichi is aiming for early elections

The goal, ride the wave of popularity who continues to accompany her since she became the number one tenant of the Kantei – the official residence of the prime minister – and give his party back the absolute majority in Parliament. To date, his coalition holds a more than slim majority in the lower house, standing only thanks to the support of three independent parliamentarians. The situation is even more extreme in the Senate, where he remains in the minority and each measure requires negotiation with the opposition.

Personal consensus surpasses that of the party

And walking along Chuo-dori Street, the beating heart of the capital’s luxury shopping district – which is certainly not teeming with political speeches – you can understand one thing: the prime minister’s revenge in the elections is practically a certainty.

“I like Takaichi” he tells AGI a man in his fifties in front of Starbucks. “She is direct, she always seems to know what she wants. After years of weak prime ministers, this is great news.” But what significantly emerges is that the consensus for the prime minister is greater than that of her partyLiberal Democratic Party.

Economy, security and strong leadership

Takaichi, the first woman to lead Japan, enjoys very high personal support, fueled by the image of a strong leader, since clear language on the economy and a decisive line in foreign policy(see his very harsh position on Chinese expansionist aims on Taiwan).

The parallel with Giorgia Meloni

And here, considering the common points, the thought a Giorgia Meloni it is immediate, natural, obvious.Both conservativewith their settlement, they broke the glass ceiling of their respective countries. Never before them, in Italy and Japan, had a woman become prime minister. Together they share a similar approach to foreign policy and securityall’importance of the seas, with the Italian vision of the Indo-Mediterranean”, on the other the Japanese vision of the free and open Indo Pacific, which creates a strategic chain capable of uniting different global regions. Both in government have maintained if not increased consensus.

The Italy-Japan bilateral relationship and 160 years of relations

And tomorrow, Takaichi and Meloni will be together here in Tokyo for a bilateral, while they will also celebrate the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. It was 1866, the world was entering a new era, marked by the advent of technologies that revolutionized transport, communications and production. Precisely in that period, the modern Ginza was born from scratch. The previous one, where the silver mint stood (hence the suffix gin) had been destroyed following a devastating fire.

Between luxury and normality, Tokyo looks to the future

Today it is the chicest neighborhood. At the end of this Japanese Fifth Avenuein front of a luxury boutique, two women in their early thirties, designer bags on their arms, comment on politics almost with embarrassment, as if it were a topic out of place in that glittering context. “I don’t follow much,” admits one of them, “but Takaichi is interesting, if only because she’s a woman.”

Between the luxury and daily normality of Chuo-dori Street, Tokyo does not appear to be affected by the news of the early dissolution of the Lower House. Elegant, orderly, also crossed by questions and doubts about her future, but aware that the ‘Japanese Thatcher’ will most likely still be leading the country.