By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-10-15 01:27:09 | Updated at 2026-10-15 03:28:42
2 hours ago
TOKYO – The resignation of scandal-hit farm minister Kazuo Yana is unlikely to allow Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to return to politics as usual, with opposition parties set to capitalise on the turmoil and go after her for initially defending her appointee.
Takaichi appears to have decided to let Yana go to avoid further damage to her government and clear the way for parliamentary deliberations on key bills, including one to implement a consumption tax cut.
But analysts say her difficulties are far from over, with Yana’s failure to give a full explanation of his alleged questionable conduct related to elections in his constituency leaving opposition parties with plenty of fuel to keep the issue alive.
Yana “resigned without fulfilling his responsibility for explaining the allegations, and he showed no sign of remorse”, said Masahiro Iwasaki, a political science professor at Nihon University.
“His resignation does not mean the opposition parties will stop raising the issue and allow parliamentary debates to proceed smoothly. On the contrary, it will embolden them, and it may become harder for (Takaichi) to manage parliamentary affairs.”
Yana came under fire over his remarks in May boasting of drastic cuts to the road budgets of two municipalities in his constituency in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, whose mayors had backed his rival in the February general election.
He was also reported to have arranged free bus rides for supporters during campaigns for Lower House elections, possibly in violation of the Public Offices Election Act.
Known as a trusted adviser to Takaichi on agricultural policy, Yana was appointed to his first ministerial post in a Cabinet reshuffle in mid-September.
After the scandals were first revealed by weekly magazines in late September, Yana largely acknowledged the reports but denied any illegality in either case, saying that he had not pressed the land ministry to reduce the budgets and that the bus arrangement did not constitute the provision of benefits or donations.
But on Oct 14, Yana appeared to backtrack on his assertion that the provision of free bus rides was legal when questioned by an opposition lawmaker at a House of Representatives Budget Committee session.
Takaichi had said that she would “not hesitate” to dismiss him if illegality was found.
“I can no longer let parliamentary deliberations and agricultural policy be disrupted,” Yana told reporters on Oct 14 at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo after handing in his resignation to Takaichi, without elaborating on the controversies.
Since the 69-day extraordinary parliamentary session began Oct 5, opposition lawmakers had been focused on demanding Yana’s resignation and pressing Takaichi to explain her responsibility for appointing him.
Nihon University’s Iwasaki said Yana’s resignation had come “too late” and predicted that criticism of Takaichi would continue over her failure to remove him for nearly two weeks after the first scandal came to light.
Among the opposition parties joining the chorus of criticism were some whose support Takaichi’s ruling coalition may desperately need to achieve its policy agenda.
Following Yana’s resignation announcement, Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, said questions remained about “whether political intervention had led to arbitrary changes in budget allocations”.
Tamaki also called on the government to continue fulfilling its accountability obligations.
Mikitaka Masuyama, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, said that Takaichi appears to have picked Yana as farm minister since they share similar political views.
Having appointed him, Takaichi likely hoped to weather the controversy rather than forcing him out, Masuyama said.
Yana was among a group of lawmakers of Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party who were disciplined over a high-profile political slush fund scandal that came to light in 2023.
Yana’s background should have prompted closer scrutiny before his appointment, Masuyama said, adding: “Media attention was bound to focus on him, but the vetting process may have been inadequate.”
During the current parliamentary session, Takaichi’s government is seeking to pass a bill to cut the consumption tax on food and beverages from 8% to 1% for two years from April. The legislation has yet to win support from much of the opposition.
The LDP and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, command roughly three-quarters of the seats in the Lower House, but remain a minority in the Senate, the less powerful upper chamber, making opposition support essential for smooth enactment of legislation.
Given the “very limited” time left in the ongoing Diet session, there was no time to waste on an issue “that’s completely unnecessary”, said Rintaro Nishimura, a senior associate at business advisory firm the Asia Group.
For Takaichi, “it made sense that she tried to stick by her people” as she looks toward the 2027 LDP leadership election, Nishimura said.
Still, it was “becoming increasingly untenable to keep him in place, because it’s not just about keeping Yana or not”, he said.
“It’s also going to affect her own agenda and her own political approval going forward.” KYODO NEWS
