Japan's former prime minister just said the quiet part out loud — and his own party doesn't want to hear it.
While PM Takaichi keeps funneling taxpayer money into gas subsidies to keep fuel prices artificially low, ex-PM Ishiba stood up in Tokyo this week and said something different.
"Calling for frugality is only natural if the Hormuz blockade continues."
He went further: "If we use taxpayer money to tell people to just keep driving as before, we will inevitably run into problems somewhere along the line."
Japan imports nearly 90% of its oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's effective blockade of that strait isn't going away tomorrow.
And yet the official government position is essentially: don't worry, here's a subsidy, keep filling up your tank.
Ishiba didn't name Takaichi directly — he didn't have to.
Every political observer in Tokyo knows exactly who he's talking about.
Sometimes the most honest voice in the room is the one who already lost power.
Is Japan sleepwalking into an energy crisis?
