It is said that things that happen in the United States will happen in Japan about 10 years later. Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi’s unexpected election to the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party showed that the Japanese political scene has already become polarized.

Forty years after the Plaza Accord, the United States, which once led the creation of postwar international economic rules, has now become a country destabilizing the global economic order through U.S. President Donald Trump’s high tariff policies and other measures.

The presidential election for the Liberal Democratic Party will be held today, and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will step down within the month.

In July’s House of Councillors election, parties that are cautious about accepting foreign workers and that advocate for tighter restrictions saw their vote shares increase. Anti-immigrant parties have been gaining support overseas for some time, and now the treatment of foreign workers is increasingly becoming a point of contention in Japan, too.

Children begin developing the skills necessary to become members of society from an early age. In Japanese schools, this process is supported by “special activities” in which children work together to improve their daily school lives, thereby learning cooperation and other essential qualities, growing into builders of a healthy democratic society.

In the eight months since Jan. 20, when Donald Trump was inaugurated president, the world has witnessed something very unusual: the rapid decline of a superpower, brought on not by any external force but by the hand of its own leadership.

This self-destruction was on vivid display at the recent summit meeting in Beijing to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. China, Russia, Iran and North Korea have been deepening their cooperation over the past few years, actively collaborating to support Moscow’s war effort against Ukraine. What raised eyebrows, however, was the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the summit, and his eager embrace of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.