Sanae Takaichi, the Japanese prime minister at the center of China-Japan tensions over remarks hinting at intervention in Taiwan, is facing controversy over a post on social media (SNS) about fretting over her outfit.
On the 21st, while en route to South Africa to attend the Group of 20 (G20) summit, Prime Minister Takaichi posted on X, the social network service (formerly Twitter), saying she "agonized over choosing clothes the day before departure."
She wrote that at the House of Councilors Budget Committee on the 14th, she recalled a request from Hiroshi Ando of the Referendum Party: "Please, as much as possible, wear clothes made by top artisans from Japan's finest fabrics when you meet with leaders of countries around the world. Cheap clothes could make you look down upon."
She went on, "Ando's point seemed reasonable, so I spent hours choosing 'clothes that don't look cheap' and 'clothes that won't be looked down upon,'" adding, "In the end, I packed my familiar jacket and dress, but I may have to stretch to buy clothes that could let me take a mount in diplomatic negotiations."
The problematic part is the expression "that could let me take a mount." The term "mount" comes from the English "mounting" (the act of an animal climbing on top of another animal), and in Japan, "to take a mount" usually means trying to show oneself to be superior to the other party.
Ryuichi Yoneyama of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party criticized in a post on his X account, saying, "People are free to think what they want, but disclosing it openly makes the other side think, 'So you're trying to take a mount now,'" and added, "Before that, I wonder what exactly one could wear to take a mount."
Akira Koike of the Communist Party, another opposition lawmaker, also posted on X, "A sitting prime minister posting something like 'taking a mount in diplomatic negotiations' on a plane headed to an international conference… isn't that far too rash and lacking in judgment?"