In crowd of suited men at G20, Takaichi's warm exchange with Meloni goes viral in Japan

In a sea of dark-suited men and G-20 stalwarts, a soldering minute this weekend betwixt ii populist women stood come out.

When Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi locked eyes with her Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni for the first time on Saturday at the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, the enthusiasm on both sides was hard to miss.

Japanese broadcasters aired the moment Takaichi, 64, flung open her arms to greet her Italian counterpart, 48, calling out “Meloni!” before embracing her. Meloni, who has generally looked dour throughout the summit, clasped Takaichi’s hand and beamed as they chatted — while France’s Emmanuel Macron looked on in the background.

While the informal exchange highlighted Takaichi’s signature style, a more meaningful meeting would be with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who is representing his nation at the summit. China has said there are no plans for that, after Japan’s prime minister enraged Beijing with comments over self-ruled Taiwan.

That’s left the two leaders keeping their distance. Takaichi and Li were stood just three-people apart in a group photo yesterday, but weren’t seen interacting.

The Japanese side has expressed an openness to a conversation with Li, with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki telling reporters at a briefing Saturday they couldn’t rule out a meeting.

Despite that crisis rumbling on, Takaichi’s warm exchange with Meloni helped her garner good publicity at home, where it went viral on social media. Her informal approach is breaking with decades of rigid diplomacy displayed by Japan’s male leaders and boosting her profile on the world stage.

“I feel this is the first time since Prime Minister Abe’s time in office that Japan is back at the center of the international community,” Ryusho Kadota, a Japanese journalist and writer, posted on X, referring to Takaichi’s mentor Shinzo Abe.

“Who said that Ms. Takaichi can’t conduct diplomacy,” another user posted on X. “She’s a complete beast in social situations.”

With the departure of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel from the diplomatic scene, Meloni has often been the lone woman among older men. Like Takaichi, her fashion sense and suits are part of her political identity and a focus of the media.

There are other similarities. Both women were swept to power on conservative agendas in countries where top leaders have tended to last not much longer than a year. In the cut-throat halls of power in Rome, Meloni has sailed past the three-year mark and notching several successes, including Italy’s first upgrade by Moody’s in more than two decades.

Takaichi is just starting out. During her first month in office, she’s unveiled Japan’s largest round of extra spending since the pandemic to tame inflation and clocked approval ratings as high as 80%. But she’s also stumbled into a diplomatic crisis with Japan’s top trading partner.

Despite having little foreign policy experience, Takaichi has already handled three major summits, as well as a visit to Japan from US President Donald Trump. While her diplomatic message has been mostly consistent, her delivery has attracted attention.

Footage of Takaichi at a previous summit rolling her chair toward the Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, wrapping an arm around Chile’s leader and perching on a table beside Australia’s Anthony Albanese sparked debate in Japan, where public interactions are typically formal.

Takaichi appears to have tweaked that approach this weekend, greeting Indonesia’s representative more formally and reserving her most candid interactions for Western female leaders — she also hugged Europe’s Ursula von der Leyen.

Before her 21-hour long trip to South Africa, Takaichi acknowledged the scrutiny she faced, confessing she’d spent hours picking out clothes that won’t “look cheap” or make people “underestimate” her — an unusually frank admission for a world leader.

“I’ll be wearing the usual jacket and one-piece dress combination everyone has seen,” she posted on X. “I think I might have to go on the hunt for some clothes that give me an edge in diplomatic negotiations.”

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