Takakura

高倉官房長官

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takakura is a highly influential politician within the Kayabuki government and was likely the power broker behind her Cabinet. Chief Aramaki describes him as a 'Pro-American, Neo-Conservative'. Although he and Kazundo Gouda share similar interests, and Gouda's Cabinet Intelligence Service reports directly to Takakura, their ultimate objectives appear to differ. Both maintain that they acted independently during the events of 2nd Gig.
In the early episodes of 2nd Gig, Secretary Takakura serves as an intermediary between Section 9 and Prime Minister Kayabuki, particularly during the assassination attempt by Hideo Kuze. Following a series of suicide bombings by refugees, Imperial America, which is experiencing an economic downturn, approaches Japan with a treaty reaffirming Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. Article 9 prohibits the Self-Defense Forces from engaging in offensive operations overseas. From the American perspective, the treaty's goal is to eventually co-opt the so-called 'Japanese Miracle': a type of micro-machine that cleans up radioactive fallout, thereby reducing the threat of nuclear attack. While Kayabuki sidelines the treaty to address the growing refugee crisis in Dejima, Takakura wholeheartedly supports it as a means to secure Japan's future as a world power.
With Kayabuki's Cabinet divided on the refugee issue and Kayabuki herself possessing virtually no independent political clout, Takakura—described by Chief Aramaki as part of a Neo-Conservative faction—begins taking steps to transfer authorization on the matter from Public Security and the National Police Agency to the Military. Largely due to data manipulation by Kazundo Gouda, the Military assumes a greater role in the crisis, starting with the Coast Guard being deployed to blockade Dejima (ironically at Section 9's request) and later when the Self-Defense Army enters Nagasaki to secure the city, which is under threat of a nuclear bomb. Throughout this period, Takakura's influence grows. As public dissatisfaction with the handling of the Dejima Crisis increases, Takakura convinces the Cabinet to authorize a military invasion of Dejima under the pretext of securing plutonium believed to have been purchased by Hideo Kuze. Acting on Aramaki's advice, Kayabuki delays the invasion by appealing to the UN. Takakura arranges for both of them to be placed under house arrest, leaving him in control of the government for most of the remaining episodes.

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