The morning of August 10, 2022. At the Prime Minister's Official Residence, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio (岸田文雄) announced the list for his cabinet reshuffle. One name was on that list. Takaichi Sanae. Minister of State for Economic Security.

Upon hearing that title, many people first asked: What is economic security?

It was a natural question to ask. Until 2021, economic security was not a concept that had fully established itself as a policy term in Japan. Security meant the military, and economy meant trade and growth. A term that bundled the two together was unfamiliar.

Takaichi took the seat tasked with handling that unfamiliar concept.

The process leading to the creation of this position did not happen overnight.

2018. The Trump administration in the United States took aim at the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. The argument was that if Huawei equipment entered communication networks, it would become a security threat. The U.S. requested its allies not to use Huawei equipment.

Japan also followed this trend. In late 2018, a policy was set to effectively exclude Huawei and ZTE equipment from government procurement. Takaichi, who was then the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, was deeply involved in these discussions.

2020. The COVID-19 pandemic arrived. Masks were unavailable. There was a shortage of raw materials for pharmaceuticals. Testing equipment was in flux. The fact that the world's manufacturing was concentrated in China suddenly emerged as a problem. Decades had passed without any country being conscious of this as a crisis.

In the same year, the pattern of Russia utilizing natural gas supplies to Europe as a weapon became clear. The invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 completed that pattern. Europe realized that depending on a foreign country for energy meant becoming subordinate to that country.

Observing this trend, Japanese policymakers were asking one question: Where is Japan vulnerable? We depend on South Korea for semiconductor materials, China for rare earths, China and South America for battery raw materials, and China and India for pharmaceutical raw materials. For energy, we depend on the Middle East and Russia. The list of vulnerabilities was long.

The Economic Security Promotion Act (経済安全保障推進法) grew out of this awareness. In May 2022, the law passed the Diet. This was three months before Takaichi took office as the Minister of State for Economic Security.

The law had four pillars.

First: Securing the stable supply of specified critical materials. Semiconductors, batteries, critical minerals, antibiotics, fertilizers, permanent magnets, machine tools, aircraft parts, cloud services, natural gas, and ship parts. The plan was to designate 11 sectors as "specified critical materials" and establish subsidy and loan systems to support domestic production and stockpiling.

Why these eleven? They shared commonalities: a high level of foreign dependence, few alternative sources of supply, and materials whose absence would cause societal functions to grind to a halt. Taking semiconductors as an example, Japan's foreign dependence reached 79 percent. For antibiotic raw materials, the situation was such that the country relied on China for nearly 100 percent.

Second: Ensuring the security of critical infrastructure services. Electricity, gas, telecommunications, broadcasting, finance, railways, and aviation. This involved introducing a prior screening system to prevent external forces from infiltrating the facilities and software of these sectors. It was a system to verify in advance whose software was in telecommunications equipment and what the background of that company was.

Third: Support for the development of advanced critical technologies. Artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biotechnology, space, and cyber. The goal was to create a framework where the state provides funding and develops core future technologies through public-private cooperation. It was the recognition that technology is security—the idea that future battlefields will be decided not by physical combat, but by technological superiority.

Fourth: A non-disclosure system for patent applications. This was a system to manage and keep patents containing security-sensitive technologies from being disclosed to the public. In Japan, once a patent is applied for, it is disclosed to the world after a certain period. Foreign countries have acquired sensitive technologies through that disclosed information. This system was designed to prevent that.

The framework of the law existed. However, a framework alone makes nothing function. Which materials would be designated as specified critical materials? By what criteria would infrastructure be screened? Which technologies were advanced critical technologies? Giving concrete form to all of these was the Minister's task.

December 2022. Takaichi led the Cabinet Decision (閣議決定) to designate 11 sectors, including semiconductors, as specified critical materials. By April 2023, the operational guidelines for each pillar were consecutively finalized by Cabinet Decisions. Flesh was added to the skeleton of the law.

July 8, 2022. This was one month before Takaichi took office as Minister.

In front of Yamato-Saidaiji (大和西大寺) Station in Nara Prefecture. Former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo was shot during a campaign speech for the House of Councillors election. 11:31 a.m. He was transported to a hospital after the shooting, but he passed away at 5:03 p.m.

It was the first time in post-war Japan that someone who had served as Prime Minister was killed by gunfire. All of Japan fell into a state of shock.

What was Abe to Takaichi?

Since Abe's return as LDP President in 2012, there were two appointments as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications and full-throated support in the 2021 presidential election. They were partners in ten years of political cooperation. He was the person who fought alongside her in the presidential election, even advising her on her attire.

Takaichi's constituency was Nara Prefecture. The very same Nara where Abe passed away. She did not use many words to express her state of mind when she heard the news. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), she wrote: "July 8, 2022, has become a painful day that I will never forget in my life. He was a comrade with whom I shared a vision for the nation while engaging in various political activities together for over 25 years."

That was the extent of her public remarks. She said no more than that.

On August 10, she took office as the Minister of State for Economic Security. It was a position in which she would carry on the vision she had shared with Abe, but without him.

Economic security was not a narrow field. It was necessary to understand how these sectors connected—starting from semiconductors and extending to quantum computing, artificial intelligence, space technology, cybersecurity, supply chains, foreign investment screening, and the non-disclosure of patents.

Takaichi delved deeply into this work. She held meeting after meeting. She listened to experts. She consulted with the industrial sector. She referred to the economic security systems already established by Five Eyes countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.

In that process, what she particularly emphasized was the China risk. While she sometimes used the expression "certain countries" in official remarks, the context was clear. She judged that excessive dependence on China for semiconductor materials, rare earths, pharmaceutical raw materials, and battery materials had become a vulnerability for Japan. Alternatives were needed: increasing the domestic production base, diversifying supply lines, and reorganizing supply chains through cooperation with allies.

May 2024. The "Act on the Protection and Utilization of Critical Economic Security Information" was enacted. In Japanese, it is the 重要経済安保情報保護活用法. It was a law to establish a management system for classified information in the economic sector.

This law introduced the "Security Clearance" system used in Anglosphere countries to Japan. It is a system where only those who have passed a certain screening can access sensitive economic security information. With the enactment of this law, a foundation was created for Japan to share sensitive information more smoothly with allies such as the United States in the field of economic security.

Security clearance is not merely about maintaining secrets. It was also the key that opens the door to information sharing with allies. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia share specific information only with their own clearance holders. If Japan did not have this system, it could not enter the core information loop within the alliance. Takaichi emphasized this point repeatedly.

A two-year term as Minister of State for Economic Security from August 2022 to August 2024. Summarizing what she left behind during this period, it is as follows:

Designation of 11 specified critical materials. Operation of the prior screening system for critical infrastructure. Establishment of a public-private cooperation framework for advanced technology development. Implementation of the non-disclosure system for patent applications. Enactment of the Act on the Protection of Critical Economic Security Information.

These laws and systems continue to operate even after she stepped down from her ministerial post. She will be recorded as the person who designed Japan's economic security framework.

However, this term in office was simultaneously a time of having lost Abe. Without a political protector, she had to personally prove her policy foundation. She had to continue daily administrative duties while preparing for her next challenge in the presidential election. Both at the same time.

August 2024. Prime Minister Kishida announced that he would not run in the presidential election. The position of LDP President became vacant once again.

Takaichi announced her candidacy for the presidential election at the same time she stepped down from her ministerial post. "I will not stop my steps." These were the words she first spoke in 2021. She did not stop even when she lost Abe in 2022. She did not stop in 2024, either.

Through the new field of economic security, she proved something: that she could stand on her own expertise, rather than in Abe's shadow.

References

- Cabinet Office Economic Security Promotion Act: https://www.cao.go.jp/keizai_anzen_hosho/suishinhou/suishinhou.html - Nikkei — Cabinet decision on 11 sectors of specified critical materials: https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUA180QD0Y2A211C2000000/ - Takaichi Sanae X (formerly Twitter) — Regarding the passing of former Prime Minister Abe: https://x.com/takaichi_sanae/status/1609042743896178690 - Shinzo Abe Assassination Wikipedia: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%89%E5%80%8D%E6%99%8B%E4%B8%89%E9%8A%83%E6%92%83%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6 - Nikkei Business — Interview with Economic Security Minister Takaichi Sanae: https://business.nikkei.com/atcl/gen/19/00478/120600040/