In the September cabinet reshuffle in Japan, Toshihiko Moteki of the Liberal Democratic Party was appointed as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for the first time. However, recent Japanese media reports indicate that he abused his position by arbitrarily cutting the budgets of local governments that did not support him, which has caused strong public dissatisfaction.
This "budget scandal" broke just half a month after Nanghe Sheng took office.
According to Japanese media such as Kyodo News, on October 2 local time, Sohara held a press conference in the parliament, admitting the content of the report and apologizing. However, he denied his intention to resign, stating that he would continue to 'carry out his duties' in the future.
Yánhé Shēng 2 Rì Jū Gōng Dàodào Rì Mèi
According to relevant sources, the 'Budget Gate' incident occurred on May 24th.
At that time, during a reunion meeting held after the Japanese Party Branch General Assembly in Odahei City, Tōmori County, Nohara spoke and said that due to the local head not supporting him in the House of Representatives elections, "the road budgets for Nan’s Uyama City and Nakagawa Town have been significantly cut down this year."
This week's issue of the Japanese magazine "Shukan Shimbun" reported this statement.
In a press conference on the 2nd, Snai and Sheng admitted that at a rally in his hometown in May, he stated that due to not supporting local leaders in the House of Representatives elections, the road budgets of these local governments under their leadership had been significantly cut.
"Since the report wrote it this way, I think I must have said something like that." You and Yang Heng subsequently added, "I also think, because it was a gathering of members from the Liberal Democratic Party, so I said some things that were easy to misunderstand.”
He explained, "This is a way of speaking that might lead to misunderstandings. I will take this seriously from now on."
Yet Liang and Sheng denied they would resign from their posts as officials in the agricultural sector. He was asked if he would resign for his actions, to which he replied: "I was appointed by Prime Minister Gao to oversee the development of agriculture, forestry and fisheries administration work, and thus I will carry out my duties diligently."
According to Kyodo News, the opposition parties plan to question the true intentions behind Sneige’s statements at the emergency national assembly scheduled for October 5th. They also intend to hold the Prime Minister, Yukie Kashiwada, accountable for her appointment.
In February this year, Gao supported Son and Sheng in the Congressman elections. Son and Sheng's Facebook account
Maehara was once a member of the former faction of the Liberal Democratic Party known as the “ Abe faction”. In 2024, he was suspended from the party for six months due to the Liberal Democratic Party’s "black money" scandal. Currently, Maehara is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party’s conservative group, the “Conservative Solidarity Association”, and supports Highakashi Hayama on various policy issues.
During the House of Representatives elections in February this year, Gao Shizuema supported him and described him as her "brainpower," saying he was very important to her.
In September, Sono Yuzuru was appointed as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, becoming one of the two ministers involved in the 'black money' scandal in the new cabinet, which sparked controversy.
