Japan just chose a leader willing to say what too many Western elites won’t: families, not endless immigration, must be the center of national renewal. Sanae Takaichi was elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and confirmed as Japan’s prime minister on October 21, 2025, and from day one she signaled a return to common-sense priorities—boost births, secure the homeland, and restore economic strength.
That kind of clarity is refreshing. Takaichi has made no secret of her view that importing a permanent wave of foreign workers is not a sustainable substitute for births and social stability, and she’s vowed to tighten enforcement where public safety is at risk rather than surrender national cohesion to short-term labor fixes. The political establishment in Europe and here in the United States would do well to listen: you can’t buy country-saving loyalty with cheap labor.
Japan’s demographic collapse is not theory; it’s a present-day crisis that threatens pensions, defense, and the very neighborhoods Americans who love liberty and family hold dear. Cities and rural towns alike are hollowing out as births sink to record lows and the population ages, a problem that sensible leaders must confront with bold family-first policies instead of open-door slogans.
Let’s be blunt: mass migration as a population strategy is a political cop-out that replaces long-term renewal with short-term crowding. Immigration can be part of a nation’s story, but making it the default answer to a birth-rate collapse sacrifices cultural continuity, public safety, and social trust—ingredients that made Japan strong and that Americans should not abandon either. This is patriotic realism, not xenophobia.
Takaichi has already signaled a menu of pro-family and economic measures—tax and spending choices aimed at making work and parenting compatible, and a posture that puts Japanese citizens’ security first while strengthening alliances where needed. Those policies are exactly what conservatives here should champion: targeted incentives, streamlined child care, and a nation that rewards family formation, not bureaucratic grandstanding.
It’s predictable the mainstream media and liberal alarmists will howl about “isolationism” and “populist nationalism,” but the real moral test is whether a government protects its people and the future of its children. Brave leadership means choosing the hard, nation-building path—raising a generation of citizens who love their country—rather than outsourcing the problem to an endless supply chain of temporary workers.
America’s policymakers and citizens should watch Tokyo closely and take heart: there is nothing un-American about putting families first. If we want thriving towns, full pews, and secure borders, we should stand with leaders who prioritize the next generation over the short-sighted globalist playbook—and then get to work fixing our own long-neglected family policies at home.
