<figure id="attachment_461117" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-461117" style="width: 1333px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="62f13235"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/b81c0263d9ceaf8cdabb39875b5eb158.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-461117" class="wp-caption-text">In the general election, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi triggered a &#8220;Takaichi boom&#8221; and led the LDP to an overwhelming victory. However, she was defeated in the election for governor of Ishikawa Prefecture, which favored the incumbent. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h2> The incumbent governor was supposed to have an advantage, but he lost &#8230;&#8230;</h2>
 After winning the recent lower house election, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (65) is now facing an uphill battle.
 According to a three-day poll conducted by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) from March 6, the approval rating for the Cabinet dropped 6 points from the February survey to 59%. The disapproval rate rose 6 points to 26%. The top reason for this was
 Because I don&#8217;t trust his character.
 The Kyodo News survey also showed the approval rating at 59%, down 6 points from last month.
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 The Kyodo News survey also showed a 3.2-point drop in the approval rating from last month.
 Until just last month, the president had been bragging that he would revive Japan&#8217;s economy with aggressive fiscal measures, but on February 28, the U.S. and Israel bombed Iran, and the Iranian government has been calling for the &#8220;elimination of the weak. Iran has been practicing the &#8220;weak man&#8217;s tactics,&#8221; blockading the Strait of Hormuz, a major sea transport route, and indiscriminately attacking Middle Eastern countries, dragging them into war and causing an oil and other energy crisis.
 Prime Minister Takaichi, however, is in such a hurry to pass the budget for the next fiscal year within the fiscal year that he refuses to hold a full day of intensive deliberations as demanded by the opposition parties. The discussion lasted only four hours under the ex officio authority of Tetsushi Sakamoto (75, LDP), the chairman of the Diet Committee.
 Some opposition parties suggested rearranging the budget bill in light of the Middle East situation, but Prime Minister Takaichi insisted on passage. The declining approval rating may be due to some people&#8217;s doubts about his authoritarian political management,&#8221; said a political insider.
 In the March 8 election for governor of Ishikawa Prefecture, incumbent Governor Hiroshi Hase (64), who was nominated by the Liberal Democratic Party and The Japan Innovation Party, lost the election. This was despite Mr. Takaichi&#8217;s rally to support Mr. Hase in the final stages of the election.
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 In an interview with this website, political commentator Harumi Arima commented on Hase&#8217;s loss,
 In Kanazawa City, where the population is concentrated, he lost by a wide margin to the former mayor of Kanazawa, Yukiyoshi Yamano, 63. Although Hase won in other areas, including the disaster-affected areas, the reason for his defeat may be the dissatisfaction of the people of Kanazawa with the prefecture&#8217;s response to the disaster. 15 years ago, when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, Kanazawa City, where Yamano was mayor, was the first to accept debris from the disaster. When asked, &#8220;Is Mr. Hase the right choice for Ishikawa Prefecture, which is striving to recover from the disaster? When asked, &#8220;Is Mr. Hase the right choice for Ishikawa Prefecture, which is trying to recover from the disaster?
 The scandal has had a negative impact on the Takaichi administration.
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<h2>More &#8220;manly&#8221; than anyone else</h2>
 According to the March 10 electronic edition of the Nishinippon Shimbun, Prime Minister Takaichi was
 On the morning of March 9, when he was informed of the defeat, he turned pale and vented his anger.
 So what is this?
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 The &#8220;kowamote&#8221; Prime Minister Takaichi, who has been involved in a series of problems involving the distribution of catalog gifts, has said of himself, &#8220;I am an old man of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Showa period.
 &#8220;I guess I still have a bit of the Showa-era small businessman or president in me,&#8221; he said.
 He described himself as &#8220;like an old man or president of a small business in the Showa period. To Akasawa Ryosei, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, who is leaving for the U.S. to negotiate tariffs with the U.S., he said.
 Don&#8217;t embarrass me!
 He was furious with Akazawa, who was leaving for the U.S. to negotiate tariffs.
 He also called on Onoda, Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Security, who was late for the March 6 cabinet meeting, saying, &#8220;There are times when cabinet members are late.
 &#8220;It is unforgivable for a cabinet minister to be late for a cabinet meeting.
 The look in his eyes was said to have been sharp.
 According to a national newspaper political reporter who has been watching Prime Minister Takaichi
 She is the first female prime minister in the history of constitutional government, but she is more manly than anyone else. In other words, she is the &#8216;boss. As you can see from the distribution of catalog gifts, she gives charity to those with whom she has shared hardships and joys, but she does not forgive traitors or those whom she has identified as &#8216;enemies. When Komeito was out of the coalition, he kept nipping at Representative Tetsuo Saito, who was in the same seat. He is feared even within the LDP.
 He is also feared within the LDP.
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 In a working dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Carney over the Iranian war, Tetsuo Saito said, &#8220;We, as a nation, condemn Iran.
 &#8220;As a nation, we condemn Iran.
 He did not comment on the U.S., which had launched a pre-emptive strike against Iran, because of his upcoming summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on January 19. A source in Nagata-cho is concerned.
 A source in Nagata-cho expressed concern, saying, &#8220;We cannot afford to have President Trump respond in a flippant manner as he did the last time he visited Japan. The U.S. is a party to the war. We must not forget that Iran and Japan also have friendly relations. Depending on the outcome of the Japan-U.S. summit, there is a possibility of a further decline in support.&#8221;
 On social networking sites, expectations for Prime Minister Takaichi were high.
 It&#8217;s not what I expected. &#8230;&#8230;
 I didn&#8217;t know he was this kind of person.
 I didn&#8217;t know what kind of person he was.
 Recently, he was reported in the Weekly Bunshun (weekly magazine) to have had an affair with Yohei Matsumoto, 52, minister of education, culture, sports, science, and technology, and was quoted as saying, &#8220;I want him to pay back for his work.
 I want him to return the favor through his work. I want you to fulfill your responsibilities as hard as you can.
 He said that he would like to see Matsumoto return the money to him through his work and fulfill his duties as a minister. This has been disputed because Matsumoto is the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, who is involved in school education.
 Harumi Arima, a political commentator, commented
 The fact that Hase, who rushed to support him, lost the election and that Minister Matsumoto had an affair only added one more small blemish to his record. Even the much-discussed comment about the Taiwan emergency was not a fatal wound. It will not have that big an impact on Takaichi&#8217;s popularity.
 The decline in support for the prime minister is evidence that the wound is not only a &#8220;small one&#8221;.
 Will Takaichi be able to save Japan from the crisis with his leadership?

 Takeshi Kinugawa

 In the recent general election for the House of Representatives, Sanae Takaichi triggered a "Takaichi boom" and led the LDP to an overwhelming victory. In the gubernatorial election in Ishikawa Prefecture, which she supported, Governor Hase Hiroshi unexpectedly lost the election amid the mood of overwhelming victory for the incumbent. ......

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, whose approval rating is declining, shows “bossiness” that even her own people fear.

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