Graham Smith
Japan’s new minister for digital transformation (DX), Masaaki Taira, has commented on US president-elect Donald Trump’s newly-created DOGE department and selection of Elon Musk to lead it. Taira said in a recent address that Japan’s government would like to “follow up closely” and “incorporate” ideas from the initiative into the Japanese state’s operations.
Masaaki Taira, the controversial government minister for Japan’s “digital transformation” (DX), thinks the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the U.S. may be a source of ideas to help get the Japanese economy back on track. Taira is also the minister in charge of administrative reform, among other official titles.
During an address on November 14 (JST) in conjunction with the Japanese state’s “Autumn Review” kicking off, Taira said he expects some “pretty drastic developments” from the DOGE bureau under the leadership of tech billionaire and Tesla boss Elon Musk.
Taira on Trump’s DOGE gamble: ‘We would like to follow up closely’
For those subscribing to simulation theory, seeing a U.S. government department called “DOGE” in the headlines has been surreal. Perhaps even more bizarre is a typically reserved (at least in reputation) Japanese state looking to the cartoonish department for ideas.
Taira referenced Musk and DOGE in his speech Thursday by saying that with Musk at the head “we expect some pretty drastic developments,” and noting that “We would like to follow up closely and incorporate it into Japan’s administrative reform.”
Like U.S. president-elect, Donald Trump, and descendant-of-the-technocracy movement, Musk, Masaaki Taira is no stranger to controversy and skepticism. The DX minister has been recently embroiled in a public scandal involving allegedly illegitimate political donations. Combine this with Japan’s faltering economic state, and some are taking Taira’s remarks as an insult.
Japan still suffering as Taira eyes Trump
Politicians on the archipelago are now officially looking to digitally transform the Asian nation with robotic caregivers, drones, and AI tracking of residents and CO2 emissions, so Taira’s affinity for a Musk-helmed addition to U.S. bureaucracy may not be surprising, given the “everything app” magnate’s affinity for carbon taxes and technological surveillance.
This is combined with newly installed prime minister Shigeru Ishiba‘s plans to increase military spending and support U.S. foreign policy.
In fact, as Taira and Trump speak about the virtues of cutting government (while simultaneously expanding it), a weak yen, overtourism, and inflation are closing ears locally. “Well, if you’re serious, please start with the ‘Ranking of stupid ways to spend tax money,’” a popular Japanese account on X responded to the news.
Still, some are supportive of Taira’s plan, hoping to see some change even if it is inspired by foreign sources.
