Support for the Democratic Party of Japan plummets with the approval of the “controversial” Shiori Yamao and others, and not only the public but also “TV stations are disappointed.

’17 for her reported affair with a lawyer.

An Asahi Shimbun poll released on May 19 has shocked the public. It said that support for the KDP, which made a major breakthrough in last October’s lower house election, was down to 8% this time from 12% in April, when the party was the leading opposition party, and that it is closely followed by Rikken with 7%.

Other surveys by the Yomiuri Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, and Kyodo News also showed a drop of 2% to 5% across the board in support. Perhaps influenced by this, the KDP announced on January 14 its official candidates for the proportional representation in this summer’s Upper House election.

The four members are: former Lower House member Yasushi Adachi, a former member of The Japan Innovation Party; former Upper House member Shizuri Yamao (who changed her surname from Kanno), who has been working as a lawyer; former Upper House member Genki Sudo; and former Upper House member Michiyo Yakushiji.

The one who has received particular criticism on the Internet and elsewhere is Yamao.

Shiori Yamao is amazing, isn’t she? She has the power to single-handedly destroy the KDP, which had so much momentum. He’s already outnumbered.

The rejection of Shiori Yamao is unimaginable. Conservative voters will never accept Yamao in the first place.

In one year, he improperly appropriated the cost of gasoline equivalent to circling the globe five times!　He has been accused of having an affair while using his congressman’s pass as much as he wants!

Many criticize Yamao by bringing up past scandals such as “He cheated on gasoline expenses equivalent to five times the circumference of the earth in one year! In 2005, Yamao was reported to have had a double affair with Kuramochi Rintaro, a lawyer.

Kuramochi’s wife, Ms. A, contributed a memoir to the Weekly Bunshun in ’18, blaming Mr. Yamao, saying, “I lost everything because of Mr. Yamao. In April 2009, the Weekly Bunshun reported that “Ms. A committed suicide in October 2020,” and that her ex-husband Kuramochi took the child away from her and later tried to regain custody, but that did not happen either. The mental shock is said to have caused her to suffer from depression, leading to her suicide.

Not only that, but it was also reported that he had used his JR senatorial pass, which he could use for official business, to go see Kuramochi, with whom he was having an affair.

At the time, he said, “I have always valued the distinction between public and private life, and I regret that I behaved in a way that made the distinction between the two appear unclear to me. I apologize for that.”

He apologized.

There is a possibility that his approval rating could drop even further.

In addition to the affair, there was also an allegation of “excessive gasoline expenses” reported in 2003. The fund management organization at the time purchased a large number of gasoline prepaid cards (pre-cards), and in one year, the organization recorded gasoline expenses of approximately 2.3 million yen, the equivalent of “circling the globe five times.

The public image of Mr. Yamao is not very good, but Yuichiro Tamaki, the representative of the National Democratic Party of Japan, is in love with Mr. Yamao. This isn’t the first time he’s endorsed him.’ He had announced that he would run for the party’s proportional Tokyo block as the sole first runner-up in the 21-year lower house election. However, Kuramochi’s wife committed suicide, and public criticism of his candidacy heated up. He then withdrew his candidacy for other reasons, and was in a state of temporary retirement from politics.

Perhaps feeling that the scandal had cooled, Representative Tamaki officially endorsed Mr. Yamao with full confidence. ……

But the public had not forgotten about it at all,” he said. The Internet is full of people saying that they had high hopes for the KDP, but were really disappointed. The basic premise is that news programs must treat political parties fairly, but after all, the momentum of the KDP after the lower house election was exceptional, and the public had high expectations. For this reason, news programs tended to feature the KDP, including interviews with party leader Tamaki, but after the official recognition of Mr. Yamao and others, the KDP was suddenly treated as “something to be swallowed up. I don’t think they will probably do any more special features on the party,” said a reporter from the political affairs department of a TV station.

The party’s easy-to-understand policies, such as “increasing the take-home pay for young people,” have made it popular, and it was thought that it could become the “Tamaki Prime Minister” in the minority ruling party, but surprisingly, there seems to be a gap between its values and those of the public.

Akiko Azumi, a political journalist, commented on the relationship between the announcement of Yamao as an official candidate and the decline in the KDP’s approval rating,

Akiko Azumi, a political journalist, commented, “The impact of the official approval of Mr. Yamao is significant. And this trend of declining support will continue for a while. One of the reasons is the influence of the Internet. As they say, “digital tattoo,” information that is broadcast on the Internet does not disappear. The KDP is a party that has emerged through the Internet. Representative Tamaki has made full use of X to distribute the “Tamaki Channel” over and over again. Secretary General Haruha’s press conference videos have also contributed to the expansion of support. That is why it will be tough if this turns negative.

Besides, the Weekly Bunshun reported on Yamao’s affair in 2017, eight years ago. Many supporters of the KDP are young people, and some of them may not have known about the report. If these people become aware of Mr. Yamao’s past scandals, the party’s support rate will decline even further.

The analysis goes on to say.

A photo of Yamao and Tamaki standing shoulder to shoulder in front of a town car with a big smile on his face was posted on his X page. If he is elected as a proportional candidate, he will be able to use the strength of the KDP to his advantage in the election campaign.

What will be the outcome of the “people’s judgment”?