Ishiba versus the Trump Shock

Can the prime minister rise to the challenge?

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Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and Kōmeitō leader Saitō Tetsuo meet with opposition party leaders on Friday, 4 April. Source: @tamakiyuichiro on X.

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, reeling from Donald Trump’s imposing a 24% tariff on all of Japan’s exports to the United States, is trying to rally Japan’s political establishment behind him as he tries to lead his government through what Ishiba called in the Diet on Friday a “national crisis.” As I suggested on Thursday, the prime minister needs to ensure that the opposition parties are prepared to work with him and that he can pacify the rumblings of discontent within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

"This is approaching a national crisis"

After three days, the prime minister’s position still looks precarious.

On the one hand, his decision to call a meeting on Friday, 4 April with the leaders of six opposition parties as well as his coalition partner Kōmeitō was appreciated. Indeed, according to the Asahi Shimbun’s account of the meeting, both Japanese Communist Party (JCP) leader Tamura Tomoko and Reiwa Shinsengumi leader Yamamoto Tarō in particular praised Ishiba for recognizing that if Japan is facing a national crisis – an argument that Ishiba made in the Diet Friday and then again in his meeting with his counterparts – then it is appropriate to call upon all parties to work together to develop an effective response.