<figure id="attachment_469517" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-469517" style="width: 2000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="60b73be2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/2c76cb484450f187c2a699f50be7da64.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-469517" class="wp-caption-text">Prime Minister Takaichi still enjoys high popularity among the people. LDP lawmakers who want to be a part of it are all over the place. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h2> &#8220;Ugly Hearings Don&#8217;t Become Ugly Hearings&#8221;</h2>
 Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, 65, has been running ahead of the public without regard to the ugly news.
 The Weekly Bunshun reported on allegations that Prime Minister Takaichi created and disseminated a short video that allegedly humiliated his opponents in last year&#8217;s presidential election and this year&#8217;s lower house election.
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 The person involved in the creation of the video was Ken Matsui, the representative of NEU Corporation, who was also named in the Sanae Token scandal. In a YouTube program &#8220;NoBorder News&#8221; distributed on May 18, Matsui said
 I communicated with Mr. Takaichi&#8217;s secretary to make the video.
 He admitted to making the video, saying, &#8220;It was not in the form of a request,
 It was not in the form of a request, but because Mr. Takaichi&#8217;s videos and SNS were not getting around, he asked me for help, and from there I made hundreds of videos a day and spread the word. I thought it would be beneficial to Mr. Takaichi, so I took the initiative and did it myself,&#8221; he explained.
 He explained. Although Bunshun published the actual names of the secretaries as well as the text of the e-mails exchanged with Matsui, Takaichi has maintained that he &#8220;doesn&#8217;t know anything about it.
 A reporter from the political section of a national newspaper said
 A reporter from the political section of a national newspaper said, &#8220;He probably thinks he can get away with it. Normally, this is an issue that should be thoroughly pursued, but the opposition parties suffered a historic defeat in the recent lower house election. It is not easy to build momentum to pursue the issue.
 He also said, &#8220;I have been told that the LDP has been working on this issue for some time now.
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 Even within the LDP, there is no sense of tension, with the atmosphere of &#8220;Here we go again. This has even led to a comment from an opposition party official: &#8220;An ugly story does not become an ugly story.
 The opposition parties are in a mood of whitewash.
 and the mood is one of white flag.
 On May 21, LDP volunteers launched the National Power Study Group, a parliamentary league to promote the policies of Prime Minister Takaichi. The group&#8217;s top advisor is Taro Aso, 85, vice president of the LDP, and former finance minister Katsunobu Kato, 70, was unanimously elected chairman. Although the group is not a faction or anything like that, and is only a study group, there is no doubt that the prime minister&#8217;s party base has been strengthened.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The national power study group gathered more than expected. ......"></div>
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<figure id="attachment_469445" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-469445" style="width: 3352px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9978d5ca"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/917b1fae3eec648631cf0a9d124a2e0c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-469445" class="wp-caption-text">Vice President Taro Aso (right) supports the Takaichi Cabinet by launching the &#8220;Study Group on National Power.&#8221; &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h2> What is the significance of the study group as a study group?</h2>
 A member of the LDP who has been elected several times said
 I think we have no choice but to join (the National Power Study Group). The principle in Nagata-cho is that &#8216;strong in elections is righteous. Whether you like or dislike Prime Minister Takaichi, it is like a treadmill. We just follow and support him.
 He said it without hesitation.
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 A Jiji Press poll conducted from May 15 to 18 showed that the approval rating for the Takaichi cabinet was up 0.3 points from the previous month to 59.4%, while the disapproval rating was up 0.5 points to 19.7%. Since he still enjoys the support of nearly 60% of the respondents, it is &#8220;impossible&#8221; that some media reported that &#8220;Takaichi is being ousted.
 &#8220;It is impossible,&#8221; said a member of the LDP.
 (LDP member).
 At the first meeting of the National Power Study Group, U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Edward Glass delivered a lecture on the theme of &#8220;President Trump and Prime Minister Takaichi&#8217;s Vision for a U.S.-Japan Golden Age. After the meeting, Aso and Edward shook hands stiffly. At this, too, the aforementioned councilor said, &#8220;Mr. Aso was a gob-smack from start to finish.
 Mr. Aso was in a good mood from start to finish. He is the head of a study group where 80% of the LDP members gather. We believe that he was able to capture the &#8220;post-Takaichi&#8221; candidate. The cooperation between the government and the party will become even stronger in the future.
 He also pointed out that &#8220;the collaboration between the government and the party will become even stronger in the future.
 Political commentator Harumi Arima, in an interview with this site, commented on the National Power Study Group.
 Harumi Arima, a political commentator, told this website about the National Power Study Group, &#8220;More people than expected gathered in Nagatacho. It means that there were that many councilors who wanted to take advantage of the popularity of Takaichi. However, if there are so many people, the significance of what the study group is for will diminish,&#8221; he said.
 I think it is a good thing that the U.S. is not involved in the armed conflict with Iran.
 In the U.S., criticism of President Trump for forcing an armed conflict with Iran has been growing, and some of his most ardent supporters have defected. In Japan, on the other hand, there has not been a &#8220;departure from Takaichi,&#8221; but rather the actions of some of his supporters have become more extreme.
 In contrast to Prime Minister Takaichi&#8217;s assertion that he has &#8220;secured sufficient quantities&#8221; of naphtha in the wake of the Middle East crisis, naphtha-derived products have been disappearing from supermarkets one after another. Calbee, a major confectionery manufacturer, announced that it would switch to black and white packaging for 14 of its main products, including Potato Chips, a snack food that is a staple of the company&#8217;s lineup.
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 This prompted some of Takaichi&#8217;s supporters to call for a &#8220;Calbee boycott,&#8221; and the issue temporarily became a trending topic.
 One of the political reporters mentioned above commented, &#8220;Calbee has been a major supporter of Prime Minister Takaichi.
 Some of the political reporters were blind to the fact that Calbee was encouraging the naphtha shortage against the wishes of Prime Minister Takaichi. Some of the Takaichi sympathizers blindly believe in the prime minister, so they cannot get any other information into their heads,&#8221; he said.
 He said, &#8220;For better or for worse, they are enthusiastic about the prime minister. For better or worse, enthusiastic supporters have become a major force behind Takaichi.
 It has been seven months since Takaichi was elected prime minister. It seems that his reign will continue for some time to come.

 Takeshi Kinugawa

 The "Study Group on National Power," a study group led by Vice President Taro Aso, was attended by 347 members of the Liberal Democratic Party. What are their intentions in supporting the Takaichi cabinet? ......

The &#8220;National Power Study Group,&#8221; a group of Diet members who want to take advantage of Takaichi&#8217;s popularity, is a major principle that rules Nagatacho: &#8220;Strong in elections is righteous.

The “National Power Study Group,” a group of Diet members who want to take advantage of Takaichi’s popularity, is a major principle that rules Nagatacho: “Strong in elections is righteous.

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