A Chinese diplomat’s call to cut off the prime minister’s “filthy head” signaled a revival of a combative style Beijing had tried to dial back.

President Trump met with Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, on Tuesday. Javier C. Hernández, The Times’s Tokyo bureau chief, looks at their chemistry, given the friendship Mr. Trump had with her mentor, the slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, is accused of assassinating Mr. Abe with a homemade gun during an election rally in 2022.

As Sanae Takaichi seeks reassurance from President Trump on trade and security, she will likely play up her ties to Shinzo Abe, a mutual friend.