Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Three China-related stories broke on the same day and fused into one debate. A report described how DJI, the world's largest drone maker, recruits veteran engineers from Nikon, Canon, and Fujifilm at its Shinagawa office for 15–18 million yen — nearly double typical Japanese salaries — reviving the long-running "drone defeat" narrative about Japan's industrial decline. Meanwhile, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale lodged a strong protest against China's submarine-launched ballistic missile test, and LDP veteran Seiichiro Murakami criticized Prime Minister Takaichi's China policy, saying it was "regrettable" that Japan would not adopt China's most advanced technology. The combination hit two nerves at once: frustration with how Japanese companies treat their engineers, and deep wariness of China's military pressure.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Self-criticism over engineer treatment — The dominant view held Japanese employers responsible for the brain drain: if companies refuse to pay engineers what they are worth, talent will simply leave.
  • Praise for standing up to Beijing — PM Wale's blunt protest ("if you want to be our friend, don't threaten us") drew admiration, with many saying Japan's own government should show the same spine.
  • Backlash against pro-China politicians — Murakami's remarks triggered fierce criticism, with commenters questioning both his loyalty and whether China's "advanced technology" is even real or accessible.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

Japanese engineers headhunted by China's drone giant DJI

DJI reportedly recruits Japanese optics-maker veterans at nearly double domestic pay, prompting talk of another "drone defeat."

Sources: Shukan Gendai

Comments:

  • "This has been talked about since around the Lehman shock."
  • "The Chinese government is bad, sure. But I get that Chinese companies toughened up by dodging government regulations. Meanwhile Japanese companies lean on donations and politics so much they've gone completely soft."
  • "DJI is already the world's top drone company, hugely popular even in Europe and the US regardless of it being Chinese. If you can get hired there, you're genuinely a world-class engineer."
  • "Around the Lehman era there was a mood of treating engineers who moved to Chinese companies as traitors, but that's completely gone now."
  • "Well, this is Japan, where engineers are undervalued. If the same job pays a totally different salary, of course they'll go over there."
  • "It's not just engineers — they undervalue all workers."
  • "Restructuring plays a part too. Japanese companies have incompetent management who don't know how to use people."
  • "Japan undervalues its engineers so much, no wonder the country is wasting away. China has plenty of problems, but on this one point they get it right."
  • "I really don't get why Japanese companies can't pay this kind of money. If they don't want to mess up their salary scales, there are workarounds like outsourcing contracts or whatever."

Solomon Islands PM protests China's missile test

As chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, PM Matthew Wale protested China's SLBM launch, saying "if you want to be our friend, don't threaten us."

Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "You messing with us, Wale!" (a pun on the PM's name, which sounds like a rough Kansai-dialect "you")
  • "That side only sees them as servants."
  • "We are on Wale's side."
  • "Fair enough, but becoming China's underling and ending up like Venezuela or Iran would be unbearable. A sakazuki cup from an unreliable boss is worth nothing."
  • "Let's have all the anti-China countries issue a joint statement already."
  • "Are the Japanese citizens and parties loudly saying 'no war' protesting China too? It's a missile, so surely they're furious…"
  • "China doesn't have any concept of 'friends.'"
  • "People often say the state and its people are different… but with China, the state and the people are the same lol. They instantly turn authoritarian and high-handed."
  • "The Japanese government should say at least this much, idiots."

LDP veteran Murakami: "regrettable" not to adopt China's advanced technology

At his own celebration event, Seiichiro Murakami criticized PM Takaichi's China diplomacy and argued Japan should adopt Chinese technology.

Sources: 2ch

Comments:

  • "Seriously, just leave the party together with Ishiba and Iwaya."
  • "Is the LDP even conservative in the first place?"
  • "A spy who introduces himself as one — that's rare."
  • "Why are this guy, Ishiba, and Iwaya even in the LDP? However big the tent from right to left, is it okay to be this far off on defense and diplomacy, the very core?"
  • "Does China even have cutting-edge technology?"
  • "The downsides that come with it are far bigger."
  • "For drones, Ukraine knows way more than China anyway. Wouldn't it be better to deepen ties with Ukraine starting now?"
  • "China's most advanced technology in what, exactly?"
  • "Even if such cutting-edge tech existed, the CCP would keep it secret."