You are not listening but that's okay. I'm going to focus on the one point I think you may actually properly be interested in;
....given Japan's economic situation and dependence on the USA, I can't see a Japanese incentive to push something like this. It's totally outside Japan's best interests to become more insular economically.
Bear with me, I promise I am going somewhere with this but come on a journey for a bit.
Normally you'd be absolutely right but the yen has been spiraling into what is now inevitable hyper-inflation. The diet was attempting yield curve control (/facepalm) which I suspect you know about and understand that represents the last desperate effort of a nation to stave off a collapse after attempting to monetize the debt, I.e. literally the formula to cause hyper-inflation, is what they were doing.... so they are seriously boned. Doubly so because the yen is directly tied to the dollar in a way that no other nation is and USD is itself suffering spiraling inflation as well, though not as bad as the yen. Economically, it's a wash for Japan.
I'm not sure how aware you are of the military tensions across asia over the past few years but I'd say a large scale war is guaranteed to happen within the next 5 years. Various nations have been militarizing & saber-rattling over this & that. Relevant point;
JAPAN DOES NOT HAVE A PROPER MILITARY. The JSDF is a competent organization but very limited in every way that might make a difference. They rely on the U.S. to defend them, and although the U.S. did build a few new military bases in Japan, something you might not know is that those military centers of operation are woefully understaffed & underfunded [The U.S. has been funneling funds, personnel & military assets to ukraine & israel, to the detriment of Japan] . That has been getting much worse over the past couple of years. Basically, Japan can see the writing on the wall and they realize they're completely fucked.
...
I can't prove it quite yet but I'd say it's a fairly safe bet that Japan is going to sever ties with the U.S. whether by their own will or because the U.S. balkanizes/collapses/etc. but they WILL re-align with their hated enemy Socialist China, & by extension, align with Russia.
They won't have a choice. They'll be facing hyper-inflation, mounting demographic collapse & the military presence that used to protect them will be gone or wildly inadequate for the task at hand.
Bottom line;
Japan is fucked. Their current path is not sustainable militarily, economically or politically. They WILL cut a deal with the Chinese to try and salvage whatever little bits they can. This will go hand-in-hand with turning their back on 'the west' in a bunch of different ways and that is what these moves+future similar moves by Japan. You are not wrong but if you see a bit further ahead, you will see that that will change. That is all. You can have the last word.
