“If She Had Apologized Sooner”—PM Sanae Takaichi Corrects Diet Testimony as Anonymous Memos Rock Nagatacho

Corrects her Diet testimony

The controversy surrounding Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s alleged involvement in a negative campaign operation has entered a new phase.

The issue centers on allegations that, during last year’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election and the House of Representatives election, Ken Matsui, CEO of neu, was commissioned to produce and disseminate videos attacking rival candidates.

Until now, Prime Minister Takaichi (65) had repeatedly denied any knowledge or involvement. However, after persistent reporting by Shukan Bunshun and other media outlets exposed inconsistencies in her explanations, she ultimately revised her testimony before the Diet.

During a House of Representatives Judicial Affairs Committee session on June 10, Takaichi addressed audio recordings published by Bunshun Online, which allegedly captured a conversation between Matsui and one of her secretaries.

She acknowledged that there had been contact with Matsui’s side, stating:

“After confirming with the secretary in question, I was told that while the voice does sound like theirs, the recording has been edited and cut into fragments, making it impossible to be certain about either the content or the context. However, the secretary does recall participating in an online group meeting with a company introduced by a trusted individual, during which a proposal was presented for a project aimed at broadly gathering public opinion.”

Earlier this year, in response to Weekly Gendai, Takaichi’s office had denied reports that the secretary had communicated with Matsui, insisting:

“The contents are not factual.”

However, during the June 10 committee session, she admitted there had been discrepancies after reconfirming the matter with her secretary and corrected her previous position, stating:

“The written response that the Takaichi office provided to ‘Weekly Gendai’ was made in good faith.”

Prime Minister Takaichi has earned a reputation for rarely backing down from her own assertions, and some online commentators have suggested that she views apologizing as tantamount to admitting defeat.

Now that she has officially corrected her Diet testimony, opposition parties are expected to argue that she gave false testimony to the Diet and demand a formal apology. Whether she will comply remains uncertain.

Political commentator Harumi Arima told this website:

“Even within the LDP, many people are saying that if they had simply admitted early on that the secretary acted independently and apologized promptly, this would never have escalated into such a major issue. On June 12, when Takaichi met with Yoshitaka Shindo (68), head of the party’s Foreign Nationals Policy Headquarters, to receive policy recommendations, it was reported that she appeared unsteady on her feet. Her office denied she was ill, explaining it was due to an artificial joint, but there’s no doubt that this negative campaign video controversy has been placing considerable pressure on Prime Minister Takaichi.”

At the same time that she revised her testimony, an anonymous document purporting to describe the behind-the-scenes circumstances of the controversy also began circulating throughout Nagatacho, Japan’s political district.

This cannot be dismissed as merely a scandal

According to the document, following Shukan Bunshun, media organizations including Kyodo News have also interviewed the aforementioned Ken Matsui. It alleges that Hiromu Kurokawa, the former Vice Minister of Justice who was known as the “Guardian of the Prime Minister’s Office” during the Shinzo Abe administration, pressured former prosecutor-turned-lawyer Mr. X, who is reportedly overseeing Matsui’s media response, telling him:

“Don’t let this become a bigger issue than it already is.”

The document also contains details regarding the past career of one of Prime Minister Takaichi’s secretaries.

A political reporter for a national newspaper commented:

“We’re still verifying the authenticity of the document, but there’s likely a reason it spread so explosively at this particular moment. What began as an ordinary weekly magazine exposé has evolved into an effort to bring down the sitting prime minister. Although Prime Minister Takaichi’s administration appears solid after its landslide general election victory, this negative campaign controversy may have become the tiny crack that ultimately causes the entire structure to collapse.”

Now that Prime Minister Takaichi has acknowledged contact between her secretary and Matsui, future debate is expected to focus on the extent of her camp’s involvement in the negative campaign videos. The discussion may also expand to examine possible links between those activities and the “Sanae Token,” for which Matsui served as the person legally responsible for its publication.

On June 11, Tomoko Tamura (60), chair of the Japanese Communist Party, told reporters at the Diet:

“This cannot simply be dismissed as a scandal. It is a serious issue that strikes at the heart of democracy.”

A political reporter for a television network observed:

“The debate is likely to become increasingly heated from this point onward, but the current Diet session runs only until the 17th of next month. The ruling party will almost certainly block any attempt to summon Takaichi’s secretary as a witness, so the strategy may simply be to run out the clock.”

How Prime Minister Takaichi navigates the controversy from here remains to be seen.