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Japan’s trade minister resigns amid scandal, a blow to Prime Minister Abe Female cabinet members’ resignations undermine Abe’s recovery efforts in Japan
(about 5 hours later)
TOKYO — Japan’s new trade and industry minister, Yuko Obuchi, submitted her resignation on Monday morning after allegations that her political support groups had misused money, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his efforts to help women climb the political ladder. TOKYO — Two of Japan’s new female cabinet ministers, appointed just last month as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to let women “shine"” resigned their posts Monday amid allegations of financial impropriety.
Obuchi informed Abe of her intention to resign first thing Monday, and news reports said he intends to accept it. Their departures undermine Abe’s efforts to lead by example when it comes to promoting working women and they cast a dark cloud over his administration at a difficult time. The prime minister’s “Abenomics” plan to revive the economy looks to be fizzling out, and he must decide within the next few months whether to press ahead with a hugely unpopular rise in the consumption tax.
A 40-year-old mother of two young children, Obuchi was widely touted as “Japan’s first female prime minister” when Abe promoted her last month to lead the powerful ministry of economy, trade and industry (METI). She was one of five women in the newly reshuffled cabinet, with Abe trying to lead by example as he presses for greater female participation in the Japanese workforce. “I apologize to all citizens for what happened,” Abe told reporters outside his office on Monday afternoon as the two ministers — trade and industry minister Yuko Obuchi, and justice minister Midori Matsushima — resigned within hours of each other.
With Japan’s labor force aging and shrinking, Abe considers women, who often stop working once they get married, critical to hoisting Japan out of its decades of economic stagnation. He has repeatedly exhorted the need to let women “shine.” “Many difficult tasks are piling up so no delay is allowed,” Abe said, vowing to quickly select replacements “who can meet people's trust”.
The situation is the biggest setback to Abe since he returned to the premiership almost two years ago. “The fact that Abe was putting so much emphasis on women makes it even harder for him,” said Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo.
The first minister to fall on Monday was Obuchi, a 40-year-old mother of two young children and daughter of a former prime minister, who was widely touted as “Japan’s first female prime minister”. Abe promoted her to lead the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), making her one of five women in the newly reshuffled cabinet.
With Japan’s labor force aging and shrinking, Abe has presented women, who often stop working once they get married, as critical to hoisting Japan out of its decades of economic stagnation. He has made ‘womenomics’ a key part of his strategy to revive Japan’s economy through structural reforms.
But the shine quickly came off Obuchi’s star.But the shine quickly came off Obuchi’s star.
Only six weeks after she was promoted to the cabinet, reports surfaced that her political funds report for 2012, the year of the last general election, did not include revenue and spending on theater tickets for her supporters, organized by her political support group. There was a gap of about $424,000 in her accounts.Only six weeks after she was promoted to the cabinet, reports surfaced that her political funds report for 2012, the year of the last general election, did not include revenue and spending on theater tickets for her supporters, organized by her political support group. There was a gap of about $424,000 in her accounts.
Obuchi said last week that she would immediately investigate the spending, adding that “it’s not enough just to say that I didn’t know about it.” Another support group bought $35,000 worth of goods from businesses run by Obuchi’s sister and brother-in-law, the public broadcaster NHK reported, in violation of political funding laws.
Another support group was said to have bought $35,000 worth of goods from businesses run by Obuchi’s sister and brother-in-law, NHK reported. “As a member of the Abe cabinet, I feel sorry that I could not contribute anything to various issues such as the economic recovery and the realization of a society where women can shine, and I apologize,” Obuchi said in a televised statement Monday morning, bowing deeply to the reporters in the room.
“As a member of the Abe cabinet, I feel sorry that I could not contribute anything to various issues such as economic policies and the realization of a society where women can shine, and I apologize,” Obuchi said in a televised statement Monday morning. “As minister of METI, it’s unforgivable for my personal issues to cause economic policies and energy policies to stagnate. I resign here and would like to put all my effort into regaining everyone’s trust by investigating these doubts,” she said matter-of-factly. But at times she appeared to be holding back tears and paused to compose herself. “People expected a lot. I regret I could not play any role, and I feel sorry.”
“As minister of METI, it’s unforgivable for my personal issues to cause economic policies and energy policies stagnate. I resign here and would like to put all my effort into regaining everyone’s trust by investigating these doubts,” she said matter-of-factly. But at times she appeared to be holding back tears and paused to compose herself. “People expected a lot. I regret I could not play any role and I feel sorry.” Only a few hours later, Matsushima also submitted her resignation. She had been accused of breaking political campaign laws for giving paper fans featuring a caricature of her to voters during summer festivals.
Obuchi is not the only one of Abe’s new female ministers to find herself in hot financial water. The cheap fans are commonly handed out at festivals during humid August and might seem trivial outside Japan, but critics here say these exceeded the value of what is allowed to be distributed. Japan has strict rules banning giving anything with monetary or material value to voters — whether they be lavish end-of-year gift boxes or throwaway fans.
Midori Matsushima, the justice minister, also has been accused of breaking political campaign laws for allegedly giving paper fans to voters during summer festivals in her Tokyo constituency. Critics say these exceeded the value of what is allowed to be given out. “I feel sorry that my recent words and actions caused political and administrative stagnation,” Matsushima told reporters in a televised press conference, looking much more relaxed about the situation than Obuchi and even smiling at times.
Separately, Eriko Yamatani, the new minister for national public safety and another of the five women in the cabinet, has been accused of having links to Zaitokukai, an ultra-right group that spouts hate speech against Koreans in particular. “I myself do not think I did anything that violates any law, but I am resigning as I don't wish to cause any more paralysis,” the 58-year-old former journalist said.
Obuchi’s resignation is the first since Abe was reelected in December 2012. His first term, between 2006 and 2007, was a litany of scandals, during which a number of ministers quit and one committed suicide. Their resignations are the first since Abe was re-elected in December 2012. His first term, between 2006 and 2007, was a litany of scandals, during which a number of ministers quit and one committed suicide. In one instance, he lost two agriculture ministers in quick succession after the replacement turned out to have problems like his predecessor.
But after returning with a strong mandate and impressive poll numbers, Abe’s administration is beginning to struggle. In addition to the questions about his choice of ministers, the prime minister is now faced with a dilemma over whether to raise the consumption tax by two points, to 10 percent — a move that fiscal hawks say is necessary to help repair the public finances, but that others say would derail the nascent economic recovery. “These scandals will be haunting [Abe] since they brought him down the first time,” Nakano said, wondering whether Monday’s resignations were the beginning or the end of Abe’s personnel problems.
The latest polls have contained discomforting news for the prime minister. A Kyodo poll released Sunday showed Abe’s cabinet had an approval rating of 48.1 percent, down almost seven points from early September. But after returning with a strong mandate and impressive poll numbers, Abe is beginning to struggle. In addition to the questions about his choice of ministers, the prime minister is now faced with a dilemma over whether to raise the consumption tax by 2 points, to 10 percent — a move that fiscal hawks say is necessary to help repair the public finances, but that others say would derail the nascent economic recovery.
The latest polls have contained discomforting news for the prime minister. A Kyodo poll released Sunday showed Abe’s cabinet had an approval rating of 48.1 percent, down almost 7 points from early September.
But even amid these difficulties, there’s one thing Abe doesn’t need to worry about: an aggressive opposition party. The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan is in disarray and is giving Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party little to worry about. Indeed, the same Kyodo poll found that while the DPJ’s approval rating had increased by 3 points, it was only to 8.1 percent.
Yuki Oda contributed to this report.Yuki Oda contributed to this report.