Names & Photos of 5 LDP Top Officials Who “Slept Soundly” During Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Plenary Session of the House of Representatives

From right to left: Tsuyoshi Takagi (67), chairman of the National Diet Committee; Hiroshi Moriyama (78), chairman of the General Affairs Committee; Kōichi Hagiuda (60), chairman of the Policy Research Council; Yuko Obuchi (49), chairman of the Election Committee; and Hiroshi Kajiyama (68), acting secretary general. The five LDP leaders closed their eyes in unison, looking very mysterious.

 

One would have thought that they were deep in contemplation, wondering if there was any good idea to save the government, which is not only flying low but also in a “Dutch roll,” but in fact is not. But they were wrong. They kept their eyes closed for about 15 minutes. The leader of the group was under heavy fire right in front of them. 

The photo was taken at a plenary session of the House of Representatives on the afternoon of October 24. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (66) was in the middle of answering a question from Kenta Izumi (49), representative of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, regarding the content of his policy speech the previous day.

“I doubt the nerve of Prime Minister Kishida, the head of the party, to doze off during his answer. During the tenure of the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it was rare to see a senior LDP official sleeping during a prime minister’s answer. This is symbolic of Prime Minister Kishida’s lack of grip on the party and the loosening of the atmosphere.”