<figure id="attachment_428294" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-428294" style="width: 1477px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8cb1eb11"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/06/8ce7b647ea72e4e9975ef9e855fd8a2d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-428294" class="wp-caption-text">Shiori Yamao being asked tough questions by the press</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Why did the press conference turn out to be a &#8220;teary-eyed excuse&#8221; for running for office?</span></h3>
<p> What was supposed to be a press conference to run for the House of Councillors in the summer turned out to be a press conference to apologize for past reports of adultery, and the day after the press conference, the unofficial endorsement was rescinded. &#8230;&#8230; Such an unprecedented situation is happening to a female politician.</p>
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<p> On June 11, the National Democratic Party of Japan rescinded its unofficial decision on Shiori Yamao, 50, a former member of the House of Representatives, who had been an official candidate for the proportional representation in the summer Upper House election. Mr. Yamao had just held a press conference in the National Diet on June 10, the previous day.</p>
<p> Most of the two-and-a-half-hour press conference was devoted to the issue of her affair with a married male lawyer, which was reported by the Weekly Bunshun in 2005.</p>
<p> Eight years ago, Yamao responded to the Bunshun report by stating one-sidedly that &#8220;there is no such fact&#8221; and &#8220;it is not a man-woman relationship,&#8221; and walked away without answering any questions. At the press conference held on the day before the Upper House election, he began by apologizing for his behavior at that time.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I think I was very arrogant at the time, eight years ago,&#8221; he said.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I sincerely regret the immaturity with which I handled the situation when you pointed it out to me.</span></p>
<p> Mr. Yamao stood and apologized for his response at the time. However, even as Mr. Yamao continued to apologize and express his remorse, from the beginning of the Q&amp;A session, there were a series of questions confirming whether or not the adulterous relationship was true.</p>
<p> Yamao was in tears, and while apologizing, he repeatedly said, &#8220;I would like to ask for your permission to speak about the matter anew at this time,&#8221; and &#8220;I cannot spin words out of my mouth because it would cause trouble for the people involved,&#8221; and avoided making any clear statements.</p>
<p> When the press, exasperated by his inarticulate response, asked him a series of tough questions, he repeated the same phrase, &#8220;What I said eight years ago is true as it is, and I ask your forgiveness for what I have to say newly. I am sorry. I can&#8217;t talk about it,&#8221; he said, apologizing with a downcast look on his face, and the question-and-answer session was not really a question-and-answer session at all.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" An &quot;inside story&quot; from the KDP candidate"></div>
<figure id="attachment_428296" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-428296" style="width: 1108px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="02955542"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/06/6c76e919238938e10481ed1a4e552ed8.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-428296" class="wp-caption-text">Mr. Yamao apologizes</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Against Mr. Yamao, who has repeatedly made self-serving statements, there is a widespread backlash</span></h3>
<p> The KDP, which fielded Mr. Yamao, is a political party that has been expanding its influence on the back of public opinion on the Internet. As a result, the party has a high reputation on social networking sites and has a history of overcoming reports of infidelity on the part of its representative Yuichiro Tamaki, 56, as reported by &#8220;FLASH&#8221; in November of last year.</p>
<p> However, when the KDP announced its candidacy for Yamao on May 14, the party&#8217;s support dropped and unprecedented criticism spread on social networking sites. One of the KDP candidates, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the following: &#8220;I was a candidate in last fall&#8217;s lower house election.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The KDP&#8217;s candidates won the top positions in city council elections held from January to April this year, including the supplementary elections for Yokohama City Council, Koganei City, Oita City, Shizuoka City, and Kamakura City.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> However, criticism spread when Yamao and others were announced as official candidates on May 14, and the official candidate of the KDP was defeated in the supplementary election for the Wako City Council in Saitama Prefecture, which was held on May 18, causing widespread unrest as a shock to Yamao. The more Mr. Yamao desperately tries to explain himself, the more his approval rating declines. It was feared that the Upper House election would not go on like this.</span></p>
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<p> According to a Kyodo News poll, the party&#8217;s approval rating plummeted from 18.4% in April to 13.2% in May. With a month and a half to go before the Upper House election date, there was no prospect of a recovery in the party&#8217;s popularity.</p>
<p> The proportional representation system for the Upper House is based on a non-binding list system, which allows voters to cast their ballot using either the name of the party or the name of the candidate on the ballot paper. The first candidate whose name is written on the ballot in order to be elected is the one with the most names on the list, so candidates must have their names written on the ballot.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In the proportional system for the upper house election, candidates are selected from all districts in Japan, so unless a candidate is a member of a large organization, his or her name recognition will be important. The KDP&#8217;s line for winning the proportional elections is estimated to be &#8216;50,000 to 100,000 votes.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> For this reason, many candidates like former House of Representatives member Mizuta Sugita (58), the LDP&#8217;s national proportional candidate, are eager to spread their names even if they go down in flames. When you are trying to get nearly 100,000 votes from all over the country, you sometimes use edgy remarks to get people&#8217;s attention, and some of those remarks may differ from the party&#8217;s viewpoint,&#8221; said the candidate.</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" A visit to Yamao&#39;s campaign office revealed a surprising turn of events."></div>
<figure id="attachment_428295" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-428295" style="width: 1108px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a5fc78ed"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/06/3b5445e32b77c06f27c66c5bd59847d5.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-428295" class="wp-caption-text">I went to the office and found it shuttered.</figcaption></figure>
<p> On May 15, Yamao posted on X, &#8220;It is wrong to proceed to eliminate the option of a female emperor while avoiding discussion of a female emperor. This differs from the KMT&#8217;s view of &#8220;male line succession,&#8221; and there is a history of the executive&#8217;s attempts to put out the fire.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The reason for mentioning a female emperor is that there is a certain segment of the population that wants to see the emperor succeed to the reign of Princess Aiko, 23, and they want to reach that segment. However, it is clear that he was making the comment for the sake of winning votes.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He knew that he would be the focus of attention the day after the announcement of his official recognition, and he was a strong communicator, so he was criticized by the proportional candidates, who asked, &#8220;Is it enough for Mr. Yamao if he wins the election?</span></p>
<p> After the general meeting of both houses of the Diet on November 11, Yuichiro Tamaki, 56, the representative of the Diet, commented on the decision not to endorse Yamao, saying, &#8220;I judged that I could not gain sufficient understanding and trust from voters and my colleagues across the country. He explained that he takes criticism seriously.</p>
<p> Mr. Yamao held a press conference but only apologized and failed to fulfill his accountability. With Yamao&#8217;s own ability to communicate, criticism spread more widely than expected on social networking sites, and it was only a matter of time before the KDP, which had grown through online public opinion, cut him loose.</p>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent"> The shuttered office was a sight to behold for those involved in the shopping district&#8230;</span></h3>
<p> A member of the KDP&#8217;s House of Representatives commented on the uproar</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> A member of the KDP House of Representatives commented on the recent turmoil: &#8220;Mr. Yamao&#8217;s press conference for his candidacy was held alone, without any party officials present. That&#8217;s what I mean.</span></p>
<p> He said, &#8220;That&#8217;s what I mean. When we asked about the newly built Yamao office in the downtown area of Kichijoji Station on the JR Chuo Line to obtain comments on the series of disturbances, we found that the shutters were down and the mailbox was taped to prevent opening.</p>
<p> When we spoke to an official in the shopping district,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> According to a source in the shopping district, &#8220;A week ago, a warehouse of a general store was converted into an office, but on the evening of the 11th, the posters on the first floor were also removed and the shutters were taken down.</span></p>
<p> On the 12th, Yamao announced that he had submitted a notice of resignation from the party. Takao Matsui, 50, a candidate for the National Democratic Party of Japan&#8217;s Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, was handing out leaflets in front of Kichijoji Station with Genki Sudo, 47, a candidate for the proportional elections to the upper house, when he tweeted.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> &#8216;I wanted him to try again if possible &#8230;&#8230;&#8217;</span></p>
<p> Will the rapidly advancing KDP be concerned about a lack of human resources in the future?</p>
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<figure id="attachment_428452" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-428452" style="width: 1477px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1912a070"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/06/fcf47af46507a751e33c223fb40eb3b6.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-428452" class="wp-caption-text"> Shizuri Yamao looks as if she is about to start crying&#8230;as the press continues to ask her tough questions.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_428449" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-428449" style="width: 1108px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="63819c1d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/06/73ce49ee51f6126167ddb02eaa78565a.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-428449" class="wp-caption-text"> Ms. Yamao at the press conference, looking as if she might start crying at any moment.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_428450" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-428450" style="width: 1477px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9d509f2a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/06/082f360369fdf0b562a8ed1e9fd106f6.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-428450" class="wp-caption-text"> Ms. Yamao taking questions from the press at the press conference.</figcaption></figure>


 Daisuke Iwasaki

 The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has rescinded its unofficial decision on Shiori Yamao, 50, its official candidate for the proportional representation of the House of Councillors in the summer election. Yamao had just held a press conference for her candidacy the day before. What happened between Mr. Yamao and the KDP?

Teary-eyed at the runoff press conference due to a string of questions about the &#8220;W adultery scandal&#8221;&#8230;Behind the scenes of Shiori Yamao&#8217;s unofficial cancellation of the National Democratic Party of Japan&#8217;s official endorsement.

Teary-eyed at the runoff press conference due to a string of questions about the “W adultery scandal”…Behind the scenes of Shiori Yamao’s unofficial cancellation of the National Democratic Party of Japan’s official endorsement.

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