“If I had apologized sooner…” Prime Minister Takaichi Corrects Her Remarks on the “Negative Campaigning Issue,” but Behind the Scenes, An Anonymous Letter Circulates in Nagatacho

Correcting Her Remarks in Parliament

The “smear campaign scandal” involving Prime Minister Takaichi’s camp has entered a new phase.

The allegations center on claims that she commissioned Ken Matsui, CEO of the company “neu,” to produce and disseminate smear videos targeting rival camps during last year’s LDP presidential election and the House of Representatives election.Until now, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (65) had repeatedly claimed “I know nothing about it,” but as her statements became increasingly inconsistent in the face of repeated questioning by publications such as *Shukan Bunshun*, she finally corrected her testimony before the Diet.

During a session of the House of Representatives Justice Committee on June 10, regarding the audio recording reported by Bunshun Online—allegedly featuring Mr. Matsui and one of Ms. Takaichi’s secretaries—the Prime Minister stated:

“I had my secretary confirm it, and she thinks the voice sounds like hers, but since it has been edited and cut into fragments, I cannot be certain about the content. However, I did participate in a group online meeting with a company introduced to me by a trustworthy source, and I was briefed on a project they were considering to broadly hear the voices of the public,”

, acknowledging that there had been an exchange with Mr. Matsui’s side. Furthermore, regarding the secretary’s response to an interview with *Shukan Gendai* in March of this year, in which the secretary acknowledged the exchange with Mr. Matsui,

“The content is not factual,”

; however, when he confirmed the matter with the secretary that day, he noted a discrepancy and stated

“The response sent by Takaichi’s office [to *Weekly Gendai*] was a sincere answer,”

.

Prime Minister Takaichi has stubbornly refused to back down from her position, and it has been pointed out that she appears to view “apologizing” as “defeat” online.

Now that she has corrected her response in the Diet, the opposition parties are expected to demand an apology from the Prime Minister on the grounds that she “gave a false response,” but it remains to be seen whether she will apologize readily. Political commentator Harumi Arima told this website,

“There are many voices within the LDP saying that if she had simply attributed it to a secretary acting on their own and apologized early on, it wouldn’t have become such a big deal.It was reported that when she met with LDP Foreign Policy Headquarters Chairman Yoshitaka Shindo (68) and others on June 12 to receive recommendations from the headquarters, she appeared to stagger. Although Ms. Takaichi’s camp denied that she was ill, attributing it to her artificial joint, there’s no doubt that this negative campaign video issue is putting pressure on Prime Minister Takaichi,”

he said.

In Nagatacho, coinciding with the correction of her parliamentary response, a “mysterious document” detailing the behind-the-scenes story of the series of allegations has also been circulating.

This Is More Than Just a Scandal

According to the report, following *Bunshun*, Kyodo News and other media outlets have also interviewed the aforementioned Mr. Matsui. However, regarding Mr. X—a former prosecutor-turned-lawyer who is coordinating media relations—Hiromu Kurokawa, the former Vice Minister of Justice who was dubbed the “guardian of the Prime Minister’s Office” during the Shinzo Abe administration, reportedly told him

“Don’t make a big deal out of this,”

—exerting “pressure” on Mr. X. In addition, the article summarizes Secretary Takaichi’s past career history. A political reporter for a national newspaper commented:

“While the authenticity of the documents is currently under scrutiny, there seems to be more to the story behind why this has spread so explosively at this particular moment.It’s shifted from a mere weekly magazine report to talk of ‘going after the then-prime minister’s head.’ Although the Takaichi Cabinet appears rock-solid after its landslide victory in the general election, it seems there is now a possibility that this ‘smear campaign issue’ could become the ‘crack in the dam’ that leads to its collapse,”

he said.

Now that the connection between Prime Minister Takaichi’s secretary and Mr. Matsui has been acknowledged, future points of contention are likely to center on the extent of the Takaichi camp’s involvement in the negative campaign video, and the discussion may even extend to the connections—both direct and indirect—with “Sanae Token,” for which Mr. Matsui served as the publisher.

Tomoko Tamura (60), chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party, held a press conference at the National Diet on June 11 and

“This is not merely a scandal; it is a serious issue concerning democracy,”

. A political reporter for a television station commented,

“While this is likely to spark a fierce debate, the Diet session runs only until the 17th of next month. They will probably block the summons of Secretary Takaichi as a witness, so isn’t this a strategy aimed at letting the session run out of time?”

Prime Minister Takaichi—how will she handle this situation?