On the afternoon of October 21st, Gao Shui won 237 votes in the House of Representatives' nomination for prime minister, becoming Japan's 104th prime minister and the country's first female leader.
However, more playful than this "first" was the cabinet staff arrangement she announced - leaving the experienced Mushroom as Foreign Minister, while taking the young sharp Small Spring into secondary as defense minister.
This combination of softness and rigidity, just like a prism, reflects the complex spectrum of the new Japanese regime's China policy.
Takashi Saami is labeled with too many distinctive labels: the conservative right wing, the successor to Abe's line, and the hardline towards China.
In her political resume, the records of visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, questioning the Nanjing Massacre and advocating constitutional amendment all made the outside world full of worries about Sino-Japanese relations after she took office.
Especially during the elections, she threw a stone between the relations between China and Japan through the U.S. think tank's speeches on Taiwan, and even more so, stirred up the hierarchy.
However, there is always a gap that needs to be bridged between political posture and actual governance.
The domestic political situation in the high city is still in trouble.
The Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Reform Association, which are jointly in power, only have 119 seats in the Senate, which is still far from more than half of the 125 seats. This situation of "split between the public and the public" means that every major decision may be strongly blocked by the opposition party.
Although the issue of constitutional amendment is listed as a key point in the coalition ruling agreement, it needs not only the consensus within the party, but also the rigid threshold of the Constitution to be promoted.
It is in such a complex context that the sensitive residence of the moss appears to be meaningful.
This seven-year-old diplomatic veteran may be like a cradle on a Japanese diplomatic ship.
The diplomatic style of Momo is precisely complementary to the high market.
He adhered to a pragmatic and realistic diplomatic philosophy, and during the previous term he successfully presided over several rounds of high-level Sino-Japanese economic dialogue, avoiding the rupture of dialogue channels.
His famous phrase “manage differences through frank dialogue” has become the best foundation of his diplomatic philosophy.
The new Japanese regime may have also delivered multiple messages to China.
First, to ensure that cooperation in the economic field is not completely hampered in the context of the possible tightening of security issues;
Second, reserve communication channels for possible friction;
Third, using Momo's rich experience, to deal with the upcoming visit of US President Trump, to find a new balance for Japan in the US.
After all, that $550 billion investment commitment to the United States requires sophisticated diplomacy to find a balance between maintaining the Japan-US alliance and protecting domestic interests.
Looking back at the post-war political history of Japan, the appointment of every new prime minister is an important code for interpreting its foreign policy orientation.
In the beginning of the second term, Shinzo Abe selected Shaytada, which transmitted a signal of sound recovery.
In the later years, the Mushroom was activated in order to focus on Japan-U.S. trade negotiations.
Suga Yoshihide remains in Shigei, emphasizing the seamless connection of policies.
Today's high market choices have both continued this tradition and given a new meaning.
As a strongly conservative leader, Gao retained a pragmatic foreign minister, and this seemingly contradictory personnel arrangement revealed precisely the profound difficulties Japan faced when China rose: the military is still stupid, but the economic interests of cooperation are difficult to cut off.
This two-faceted nature exists not only in Japan, but also in the common mentality of many countries in the international community today when facing China.
The combination of High City and Momoi reminds people of the combination of曾根康弘 and安倍晋太郎 during the year.
The famously tough prime minister also chose a moderate foreign minister to balance foreign policy. History always plays out similar plots in different space-time backgrounds.
Looking forward to the road ahead, Sino-Japanese relations under the Takaichi regime will enter a more delicate stage.
In the field of security, Xiao Jian, who is in charge of the defense province, may push for a more confrontational policy, which will undoubtedly bring new variables to the already fragile bilateral security relationship.
However, Shigei's retention also retains a window of opportunity for bilateral relations.
It is worth noting that the jointly ruling Japanese Conservative Society focused its policy on domestic issues such as the construction of the Osaka "Vice Capital" and the reduction of food consumption tax.
These domestic reforms will inevitably consume large amounts of political capital from the high-city regime, which may have forced it to act more cautiously in foreign affairs.
The appointment of the prime minister and the foreign minister of the prime minister was essentially a well-planned political balance.
What is being transmitted to China is neither a simple confrontation nor a simple cooperation, but a complex signal based on real interests.
For China, it is crucial to understand the complexity of this signal.
The policy of the High City regime towards China will run simultaneously on two trajectories: one is prevention and constraint in the security field, and the other is dialogue and cooperation in the economic field.
Although this situation of "separation of politics and economy" is not ideal, it may be the least bad choice that Sino-Japanese relations can expect under the current international situation.
In this era full of uncertainty, the combination of Takashi and Shigeki is like two sides of Japan's diplomacy: one is looking at the tense security challenges, and the other is looking at mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation opportunities.
How to balance these two aspects will not only test the political wisdom of Japan's new leaders, but will also determine the temperature and direction of Sino-Japanese relations in the next four years.