Takaichi, China Coverage, and a Missed G7 Call

Why This Topic Landed in Japan

The friction over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's China posture has been a running story in Japan for days, and three fresh flashpoints landed together on October 16. A Nikkei article framed around Japan being "criticized by China" over "bad interest-rate rises" at the G20 drew a rebuttal from Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, who said at a press conference that there had been no prior consultation and that Japan had not been criticized by China, then asked the bylined reporter to explain his basis on the spot; the clip spread widely. Separately, veteran politician Ichiro Ozawa called Takaichi "an obstacle to diplomacy," pointing to coordinated criticism from China, Russia and North Korea. And in the Diet, Takaichi explained that she had missed the October 2 G7 online summit because the connection and setup — arranging a provider for the line — could not be organized in time. Running underneath all three threads is a broad distrust of major media and doubt about the government's crisis management.

Key Reaction Themes

• Distrust of the major press (most common) — Most comments treated the Nikkei report as an uncorroborated "desk-job" piece that quoted a Chinese announcement without checking it, and many named and criticized the bylined reporter directly.
• Pushback on Ozawa, defense of the government — A large share argued that being criticized by China, Russia and North Korea is itself proof the Takaichi government is on the right track, and dismissed Ozawa as a spent force.
• Derision over the G7 no-show — On the skipped summit the mood flipped: commenters mocked the "the line provider couldn't be arranged in time" explanation and pointed to Takaichi's own past posts boasting that the official residence was fully equipped for remote meetings.
• A smaller counter-current — A minority noted that criticism of Takaichi also comes from ordinary Japanese, or cautioned against the pile-on on the press.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

Katayama rebuts a Nikkei G20 report

Finance Minister Katayama denies a Nikkei report at a press conference and asks the bylined reporter to explain his basis.

Sources: 2ch

Comments:

• "A reporter caught red-faced, lol."
• "Take the hit already and rethink how you report — the mass media has zero credibility."
• "Huh, so politicians still care about newspapers? Socially I thought papers had lost any reason to exist."
• "Nikkei has looked off for about ten years now. I thought 'Nikkei, really?' but apart from Sankei every paper is probably hopeless."
• "They do whatever they want behind 'we can't reveal our sources' — enough already."
• "Why do newspapers get the reduced 8% tax rate when they're like this?"
• "If reporters' names get aired publicly like this, maybe fabricated articles will drop a little. And honestly even trashy tabloids shouldn't be allowed to run unsigned pieces."
• "So they quoted China's announcement straight, without verifying it?"
• "They claim they did the reporting, but in the end they just looked at the People's Bank of China's release, lol."
• "They lecture everyone about 'accountability' and all that, yet 'we can't say' — what a joke."
• "This is the level where they need a front-page apology. They wrote a lie, so the reporter should be fired."
• "They went all the way there and still filed a desk-job piece?"
• "Keeping sources confidential is journalism 101, and Katayama obviously knows that when she says it — it's sneaky; the dog-whistle to make fools attack is obvious."

Ozawa calls Takaichi "an obstacle to diplomacy"

Veteran politician Ichiro Ozawa blasts PM Takaichi amid coordinated criticism of Japan from China, Russia and North Korea.

Sources: 2ch

Comments:

• "Ah, so PM Takaichi was right after all."
• "No, that's a bad move. If you're going to criticize Takaichi, do it on domestic policy — like this you end up looking like you're on the authoritarian states' side, lol."
• "The moment it's China, Russia and North Korea doing the criticizing, defending that position is just a bad look. Has Ozawa's instinct dulled?"
• "It means there are plenty of countries more important than China, Russia and North Korea — in other words, those countries aren't needed."
• "You end up like this if you don't first recognize that China, Russia and North Korea are the problem before you speak."
• "Ozawa's been a lawmaker forever, but far from any achievements he just spreads harm. It's a mystery how he keeps his seat."
• "When Ozawa howls, the LDP's approval goes up…"
• "Politics that just reads the mood of those countries isn't wanted anymore."
• "I get the impression criticism of Takaichi comes not just from China and the opposition but quite a lot from Japanese citizens too. Maybe she's already fairly cornered?"
• "It's China that's to blame for unilaterally piling provocation and pressure on Japan and Taiwan."
• "There's no way our views would ever line up with China, Russia and North Korea in the first place."
• "Is getting along the only kind of diplomacy there is?"
• "It's a problem when diplomacy is run on personal likes and dislikes."
• "Proper diplomacy with those three countries is difficult from the start, I'd say."

Explaining the skipped G7 online summit

PM Takaichi tells the Diet she missed the October 2 G7 online summit because a line provider could not be arranged in time.

Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

• "The line provider that embarrassed the PM — you know what's coming, right?"
• "If she'd just asked, I'd have lent her my home internet."
• "Is there anyone who actually believes this? She's not some random ordinary person."
• "To me, answering a question about the PM's crisis management with 'I sleep with my phone volume on max' was more embarrassing."
• "Even an elementary schooler would come up with a better excuse. Her approval will probably still shoot up, though."
• "Either way it was an online meeting she didn't need to attend, right?"
• "It's genuinely strange how Takaichi's many gaffes get shrugged off with a 'hmm.' Didn't someone once get torn apart for saying a cup of instant ramen costs 300 yen?"
• "This is just plain embarrassing — give me a break."
• "So the line provider was the one at fault, huh 😡"
• "She says she didn't know the schedule until the last minute — well, there's really no need to keep a slot open for Macron and von der Leyen."
• "This country is finished."
• "There's no way the PM's office and residence lack the lines to hold a meeting. There's probably even a military-grade secure line — otherwise how would they protect classified information?"
• "She told the public she was working remotely, against the 'she's not working' talk, so how come… A spy must have sabotaged things to keep her out of the G7 meeting." [Translator's note: sarcastic.]