The new prime minister, Takaichi Sanae, has assembled a cabinet that signals continuity in Japan’s energy realism, but with a sharper industrial edge. One of her first promises, to cut the gasoline tax, underlines that pragmatism: easing household and transport costs while signaling that energy affordability, not only decarbonization, will define her agenda.

Takaichi has often been described as a political firebrand, but her Cabinet picks indicate a careful balance between trade, business, and politics. Her choice of Akazawa Ryosei as METI minister and Koizumi Shinjiro as defense minister suggests that she intends to link energy security, technological innovation and national resilience more tightly than before. Heading the MoE is former banker Ishihara Hirotaka – a nod to how environment policy is increasingly linked to investment, green finance and international capital flows.

Akazawa’s role will be in part to progress the major energy and other infrastructure projects that he agreed with the U.S. in his role as chief trade negotiator under the prior administration. Koizumi’s presence should see a more concerted effort to integrate renewable energy into key national defense and other facilities, opening further opportunities for clean tech that also gets dubbed as ‘dual use’ for its military application.

Meanwhile, the appointment of several veteran METI officials at Takaichi’s office should help to advance the national strategy of coordinating industrial, digital, and energy developments. From the Watt-Bit Collaboration to the GX Hubs initiative, the government – and METI in particular – has embarked on a mission to sync the expansion of new industrial facilities with clean energy resources, using this as a driver to meet the nation’s 2050 carbon neutrality goal.