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Like everything in Japan, the role and position of prime minister is a little bit different. Government in Japan seems far more collegiate than in The West. The position of prime minister is something of a poisoned chalice whose holder’s back needs to be more knife-proof than most. I would imagine that the office must have a revolving door! Like so many before him, Suga has always felt like just a placeholder.

Japan’s primary concerns vis-à-vis China at present are Taiwan and the Senkaku Islands disputed with China, which are roughly half way between Okinawa and Taiwan. Taiwan is only 400 miles from the huge US military (nuclear?) bases on Okinawa, while Okinawa is more than 1300 miles from Tokyo. Remember, Taiwan is all that is left of pre-communist China and has never been part of the PRC; but 1895-1945 Taiwan was part of the Japanese Empire. Modern Taiwan looks and feels far more Japanese than Chinese.

When it comes to the US, perhaps like the UK, Japan is less a US ally than an aircraft carrier, a vassal state, thanks to WWII? Japan is therefore probably watching the decline of the US as much as the rise of China, and wondering to what extent her overlord is still capable of his role. I think Dr Farrell is right to highlight Japan’s growing closeness to Russia, which Mercouris does not mention. The importance to Japan of new pipelines supplying Russian gas through both Sakhalin and Vladivostok should not be underestimated.