<figure id="attachment_326181" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-326181" style="width: 5268px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="771744d0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/08/daf3ad4bd6c202e61f1ce31be06353a7-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-326181" class="wp-caption-text">Former SPEED member Eriko Imai is being slammed for her training in France. Her partner Ken Hashimoto defended her on SNS, but &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
 The issue of training in France by members of the LDP Women&#8217;s Bureau, including Imai Eriko and Matsukawa Rui, has flared up even more.
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 A total of 38 members of the group traveled to France in late July. Although the group was ostensibly on a &#8220;study tour&#8221; to learn about French culture, which is full of diversity, the content of the &#8220;study tour&#8221; was called into question when Matsukawa, dressed up and posing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, uploaded a photo of herself on a social networking site.
 Mr. Matsukawa hurriedly deleted the Eiffel Tower photo. Sightseeing!&#8221; Mr. Matsukawa responded to online criticism that
 I apologize for the misunderstanding that many people had about the training program, which was very serious in nature, and that it was &#8216;a large group of people traveling happily at taxpayers&#8217; expense.
 He apologized for this, but stressed that it was a meaningful event.
 Mr. Imai also took to social networking sites.
 Some people have pointed out that the overseas training was a waste of public funds, but it was not a wasteful outing,&#8221; he insisted.
 But it was not a wasteful outing,&#8221; he insisted. As for travel expenses
 Imai explained, &#8220;Since it is a party activity, it is paid for by the party and the participants pay their own expenses.
 He explained that the Eiffel Tower photo was inappropriate.
 Although the photo of the Eiffel Tower was inappropriate, it was a legitimate training program. So, that&#8217;s what they are claiming.
 However, a detailed schedule of the training program was &#8220;leaked&#8221; to the public. The contents of the training, which could hardly be called &#8220;legitimate,&#8221; were revealed.
 The group left Japan on July 24, spent three nights there, and returned on July 28. According to the weekly photo magazine &#8220;FLASH,&#8221; the pure training program lasted only six hours, and even including a visit to the Diet building and a dinner with the Japanese ambassador to France, at most 10 hours could be counted as political activities.
 The second and third days were particularly bad.
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 At 8:30 p.m., they participated in an elegant two-and-a-half-hour dinner cruise on the Seine River, where they were treated to a sumptuous meal. At least I hope they paid for the cruise on their own.
 On the third day, the Diet members visited a local nursery school for an hour in the morning, but the rest of the participants had no plans until 2:40 PM. Even so, there were more than two hours of free time on the Champs-Elysées, and the parliamentarians joined the group early after their visit. The itinerary reads
 Please enjoy shopping and other activities.
 Please enjoy shopping, etc.,&#8221; was written on the itinerary.
 The participants have already returned home. Imai declared on SNS, &#8220;We will report on our activities as soon as possible,&#8221; but on the 7th, he posted a series of posts about typhoon No. 6, which hit his home prefecture of Okinawa.
 Is the French training program already a thing of the past? The Internet has been flooded with comments saying, &#8216;Typhoon information is important, but the explanation of the training in France must come first&#8217; because the detailed schedule was reported.
 On the other hand, Ken Hashimoto, a former Kobe City Councilor who is said to be Imai&#8217;s de facto partner, commented on SNS on March 3 that the explanation of the training schedule was not important.
 I don&#8217;t know what the party headquarters will decide, but I would never make it public. There is nothing more foolish than disclosing where and who you met in party activities.&#8221;
 He posted. To this.
 ≪I don&#8217;t believe he went there to discuss such confidential matters.
 &#8220;Why would I take 38 people to a training session that I would prefer not to disclose?
 A number of &#8220;legitimate&#8221; criticisms were made, such as &#8220;I don&#8217;t think they discussed such confidential matters. One person involved in the political world commented, &#8220;The Kishida administration is facing a slump in support.
 A political source said, &#8220;The Kishida administration, which has a low approval rating, does not want to complicate this issue. The Kishida administration does not want to complicate the issue, as it could hinder the cabinet reshuffle in the fall and possibly the dissolution of the lower house of the Diet. It seems that they are aiming to let the fuss fade away with the passage of time.
 Imai and Matsukawa have been notified not to give interviews or talk about unnecessary matters, and Hashimoto has been strangely quiet of late. Mr. Hashimoto has been strangely quiet of late, probably in line with Mr. Imai&#8217;s wishes.
 Mr. Hashimoto has also been strangely quiet recently, probably in line with Mr. Imai&#8217;s wishes.
 Even so, the public will not forget this issue. We hope that he will fulfill his accountability as soon as possible.

 Takeshi Kinugawa

 The "training in France" by Eriko Imai, Rui Matsukawa, and other members of the LDP Women's Bureau has come under suspicion as a "girls' trip. Imai's partner, Ken Hashimoto, and others have defended the trip on social networking sites, but why have they decided to keep quiet about it?

The public is outraged by the &#8220;training in France&#8221; of Eriko Imai and others, but LDP leaders are aiming to &#8220;let it fade away&#8221; by ordering &#8220;no explanation&#8221;.

The public is outraged by the “training in France” of Eriko Imai and others, but LDP leaders are aiming to “let it fade away” by ordering “no explanation”.

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