Historic Win Pits Takaichi’s Vision of Japan Against Bond Market

Back in October, Sanae Takaichi struggled to wrangle enough seats in parliament to become prime minister. Now she has the biggest election mandate of any Japanese leader since World War II.

The surprisingly large victory margin allows the staunch conservative to implement her nationalist vision of a more forceful, outspoken, self-sufficient Japan. She can strengthen Japan’s military, stand up to China and North Korea, move closer to the US, ramp up strategic investments, pressure companies to raise wages and push the central bank to think twice before raising interest rates.