I had been offered a ministerial position at the next cabinet reshuffle, but it was ruined by such a trivial matter,&#8221; said Rui Matsukawa, 52, a member of the House of Councilors, who is known as &#8220;Sister Eiffel.
 Rui Matsukawa, 52, a member of the House of Councilors known as &#8220;Eiffel&#8217;s sister,&#8221; is said to have told LDP officials in Osaka.
<figure id="attachment_328622" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-328622" style="width: 1597px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="42891b1a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/08/acbf4efd4d85b4682238b60f8048c02f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-328622" class="wp-caption-text"> Rui Matsukawa, 52, a career diplomat turned politician, is an elite member of the House of Councilors.</figcaption></figure>
 On August 22, Matsukawa resigned as head of the LDP&#8217;s women&#8217;s bureau, taking responsibility for a photo she posted on a social networking site during her training in France, which was criticized by the public.
 The firestorm continued even after the photos were deleted, as it was claimed that the training was &#8220;not a proper training program,&#8221; including the leak of an itinerary that included shopping and free time. One after another, we are hearing comments from those involved in the Osaka Prefectural Federation that &#8220;there is almost no sign of remorse.
 For example, a senior official of the Osaka Prefectural Federation of Trade Unions told this magazine, &#8220;She has been a great help to us in getting a saddle replacement for the House of Representatives.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 For example, a senior official of the Osaka Prefectural Federation told this magazine, &#8221; She was planning to switch to the House of Representatives. She was planning to run for the House of Representatives, but she was rejected at the candidate interviews. So Matsukawa&#8217;s next target was the Osaka 10th district. Matsukawa believed that the incumbent candidate, Taku Ikeshita, who was selected by the Restoration Party, was not a solid candidate in the 10th district, and that he would have a good chance to win. She thought she would be able to at least make a proportional comeback. However, there were not as many people in the prefectural federation who wanted to support her as she thought,&#8221; he said.
 In the wake of the uproar, the Hirakata City branch of the Liberal Democratic Party in Osaka on August 7 asked Toshimitsu Mogi, 67, secretary general of the LDP and head of the LDP Osaka Reform Headquarters, to remove Matsukawa from her post as upper house election district branch chief. Another Osaka prefectural federation official revealed the reason for this.
 Another source from the Osaka Prefectural Federation of Trade Unions revealed the reason for the request, saying, &#8220;There was a wave of protests at the Osaka LDP offices, saying, &#8216;Make Matsukawa quit! It is still going on, and it is still going on. It&#8217;s still going on, and it can&#8217;t be contained with one hand. To begin with, she is reluctant to support the activities of the prefectural federation, even though she has asked for support for her own election.She is probably even more antagonistic because, despite being in the position of political party chairman, she has flatly refused to support major elections because she has her children&#8217;s events to attend.
The mayoral election in Sakai this past June was an important election for the LDP, but I was stunned when Councilor Matsukawa said, &#8220;Since [the candidate] is an independent, he doesn&#8217;t have to put in so much effort, does he? I was stunned when Councilor Matsukawa said, &#8216;You don&#8217;t have to put in so much effort because (the candidate) is unaffiliated. I think it must have come across as high-handed and showing that she looks down on local councilors.&#8221;
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 This is not the only reason why there are calls for her ouster. A prefectural federation official continues.
Mogi, who was backing her, is not well-liked. After the LDP Osaka Renewal Headquarters was established, some members began to oppose Mr. Mogi in public. This case, too, is more of a protest against Mr. Mogi than a questioning of Ms. Matsukawa&#8217;s responsibility.
Mr. Mogi gathered the members of the prefectural federation and told them, &#8216;We have to start with you guys working a little harder. As a result, the candidates for the next lower house election were terrible, including amateurs and an enka singer. He had neither the guts nor the concrete advice to seriously try to win the Restoration. The reason Mr. Matsukawa has not appeared in public since the riot is because Mr. Mogi has advised him not to.
 There had been talk of Ms. Matsukawa switching factions from the Seiwa-kai (Abe faction) to the Heisei-Kenkyukai (Mogi faction), to which she belongs, but a Seiwa-kai member said, &#8220;Ms. Matsukawa is not popular among the Seiwa-kai. I don&#8217;t understand why Mr. Mogi thinks so highly of her,&#8221; he said.
 Matsukawa has received a string of harsh opinions from within the party and from her hometown of Osaka. I wonder if the day will come when he realizes that he is not in the right frame of mind to say, &#8220;It&#8217;s such a trivial thing.

 Kyodo News

 Rui Matsukawa, 52, a member of the House of Councillors, who is known as "Eiffel's sister," told an LDP official in her Osaka constituency that she had been offered a ministerial position at the next cabinet reshuffle, but it was ruined by such a trivial matter.

Eiffel’s sister Rui Matsukawa leaked her “misplaced resentment” to those around her.

Access Ranking