Arab News Japan

TOKYO: TAMAKI Yuichiro, the head of the Democratic Party for the People, emphasizes that Japan’s most pressing challenge in terms of foreign and security policies is its “weak defense against cyberattacks.” This is not a matter to be taken lightly, he warns.

In response to a question from Arab News Japan, Tamaki expressed his concern that delaying legislation to protect Japan is a grave mistake. “According to some reports, the discussion of this legislation is going to be postponed to a later time,” he told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. “We believe this will leave Japan in a highly vulnerable situation regarding cyber defense and will also negatively impact coordination between Japan and the United States on this issue.”

Tamaki said he plans to raise the issue “as a matter of urgency” when he meets Prime Minister ISHIBA Shigeru on Monday.

The Democratic Party of the People submitted proposals to former Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio and Tamaki says there is “a need for speedy legislation to be put in place domestically regarding an active cyber defense policy and capacity.”

With the ruling coalition losing its majority, the DPP could play a pivotal role in the outcome of the vote, having quadrupled its number of MPs to 28. This potential influence underscores the importance of the party’s stance on cybersecurity.

Tamaki is a graduate of the Kennedy School at Harvard. He previously worked at the Finance Ministry and headed the Jordan desk at the Foreign Ministry in the late 1990s.

He met with US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel on Thursday and discussed foreign and security policy, but he declined to comment on the meeting.

In addition, he says his party will focus on how it can help young people and those of working age, not just older people, that other parties tend to focus on due to Japan’s aging population. He said his party’s use of YouTube increased its number of seats in Parliament.

“We believe that this increase in the number of seats indicates how young people and the working generation in Japan are having an extremely difficult time at the moment and feeling a sense of unease regarding the future,” Tamaki said.

Tamaki said Donald Trump’s election as US president could impact the Japanese economy in terms of tariffs, interest rates, and the yen exchange rate.