Controversies are spreading online in Japan over the Japanese Prime Minister's official license plate “37-77,” Sanae Takaichi. While some netizens claim that the number is reminiscent of the “Nogugyo Incident (July 7, 1937),” which triggered the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, and that “it may be an intended combination,” others have raised objections that it is “a simple number combining the birthdays of the Prime Minister and her husband.”
Prime Minister Takaichi is known as one of the leading car enthusiasts in the Japanese political sphere. She has driven the Toyota sports car “Supra (Supra)” for 22 years, and this vehicle was recently specially exhibited at the Mahoroba Automobile Museum in Nara Prefecture. On the first day of the exhibition, there were four times as many visitors as usual, and Japanese media reported that “the patriotic image of sticking to Japanese tea for over 20 years is being highlighted.” Because of this background, even the Prime Minister's official car number is getting a lot of attention.
◇ “37-77” reminds me of the Sino-Japanese War Nogugyo incident
On the 25th, an article titled “Prime Minister Takaichi's car number is controversial” spread on the Japanese online community and X (formerly Twitter), and attention was focused. “37-77” was written on the license plate in the public photo, and some netizens who saw it raised the possibility that it was a symbol number with historical significance, saying “it is the same as the Nogugyo incident on July 7, 1937.”
The Nogugyo incident is considered to have triggered the Sino-Japanese War in earnest when the Chinese and Japanese armies clashed on the outskirts of Beijing. Japanese netizens also continued to respond that “it may not be just a coincidence” and “I think they have considered the prime minister's sexual improvement symbolism.”
It was also pointed out that it is similar to the case where the aircraft number of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Self-Defense Force training aircraft “T-4” was similar to the case where controversy broke out in the past where the aircraft number was reminiscent of the Japanese Army Unit 731. The argument is that “Japanese politicians often interpret even a single number as a political message.”
◇ Raising the objection that “it's simply the couple's birthday”
However, there is also an opposite interpretation. Some argue that the controversial license plate is a combination of the birthdays of Prime Minister Takaichi and his wife. Prime Minister Takaichi was born on March 7, 1961 (3, 7), and her husband, Yamamoto Taku, was born on July 7, 1952 (7, 7), and explains that if they add their birthdays, they naturally become “37-77.” Yamamoto Taku is a politician belonging to the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, a former member of the House of Representatives, and is actually Japan's first “First Gentleman.”
Prime Minister Takaichi is a leading conservative and right-wing politician within the Liberal Democratic Party, and has continued to insist on strengthening defense capabilities and amending the Constitution. Recently, for the first time as an incumbent prime minister of Japan, he caused a strong backlash from China by saying “Japan can exercise collective self-control in case of need in Taiwan,” and there is also a view that “this license plate controversy is being interpreted excessively in conjunction with the current tension between China and Japan.”
Various opinions continue to be expressed online in Korea. Some netizens said, “China might take this issue as a problem,” and “it seems like a blatant provocation,” while others also responded, “If it's a birthday combination, it's just an assumption” and “overinterpretation.”
