News On Japan

Koizumi Under Fire Over Party Vote List, Questions Over Transparency

TOKYO, Oct 02 (News On Japan) - With the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election just days away, questions have emerged over the handling of a clerical error in Kanagawa Prefecture’s membership rolls, an organization chaired by Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.

The prefectural branch admitted at a press conference that a mistake led to about 800 eligible voters being removed from the list in June, before later being reinstated, and apologized for the confusion.

Commenting on the matter during a television appearance on October 1st, former Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said, "If it was a clerical error, shouldn’t it have been disclosed much earlier?" stressing that such problems should have been shared within the party before becoming an issue so close to the election.

Meanwhile, another challenge facing Koizumi is the Shine Muscat issue. Japan spent nearly three decades developing the high-end grape variety, but seedlings have leaked overseas, leading to unauthorized production and sales in China, South Korea, and beyond. In response, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is considering a framework to allow overseas cultivation under license agreements, with royalties directed back to Japanese producers.

Hashimoto argued that this should be seen not as a setback but as an opportunity, calling the approach "the strongest business model." He emphasized that licensing, rather than relying solely on exports, is a strategy widely used by advanced economies and one that could provide sustainable income to Japanese farmers if structured properly. He also urged Koizumi to highlight this as a positive model, rather than only focusing on the potential damage to producers.

As the leadership race intensifies, FNN polling indicates that Koizumi holds the strongest backing among Diet members with more than 80 supporters, followed by Yoshimasa Hayashi with around 60 and Sanae Takaichi with more than 40. However, among party members surveyed, Takaichi currently leads, followed by Koizumi and then Hayashi. Many analysts expect the election to head to a runoff, where shifting alliances among the top three candidates will determine the outcome.

Hashimoto noted that Koizumi’s reformist message has been muted in recent weeks, making him appear less distinct from Hayashi. Should the two face off in a runoff, he suggested that lawmakers may lean toward Hayashi, whose experience offers a sense of stability. At the same time, Takaichi’s uncompromising conservative stance has gained momentum among grassroots members, although she has struggled to expand support among lawmakers in Nagatacho.

Hashimoto concluded that for Koizumi, effectively communicating the Shine Muscat licensing model as a forward-looking agricultural strategy could be crucial in offsetting criticism and reaffirming his image as a reform-oriented candidate.

Source: KTV NEWS

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

The upcoming Liberal Democratic Party leadership election will determine not only who leads Japan’s ruling party but also who is likely to become the country’s next prime minister, and the voting system itself plays a decisive role in shaping the outcome. The election is decided by a combination of votes from LDP lawmakers in the National Diet and ballots cast by the party’s grassroots members across Japan, creating a two-stage process that balances national and local influence.

A two-story wooden house collapsed in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward on the night of September 30th, with experts suggesting that the ground beneath the property, rather than the building itself, gave way, likely due to a cracked retaining wall.

Heavy rainfall battered parts of Hokkaido, with some areas receiving more than a month’s worth of precipitation in only six hours, prompting flood warnings and evacuation advisories. Meteorologists are saying the downpour was the result of a combination of unstable atmospheric conditions and moist air flowing in from the sea.

Kamakura City in Kanagawa Prefecture has approved the introduction of a bathing tax, but the measure is drawing strong criticism from local hot spring operators since only two facilities fall under the new levy.

Osaka Prefecture has revised its ordinance to set a cap of 100,000 yen per day on ATM transfers made with cash cards by certain elderly account holders, marking the first such restriction in Japan.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Politics NEWS

With the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election just days away, questions have emerged over the handling of a clerical error in Kanagawa Prefecture’s membership rolls, an organization chaired by Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.

A bombshell report has surfaced in Kanagawa Prefecture, the political base of Shinjiro Koizumi, where as many as 826 members of the Liberal Democratic Party aligned with the Takaichi faction were treated as having resigned from the party without their consent, according to an investigation by the weekly magazine Bunshun.

An anti-immigration rally in Osaka on September 30th descended into chaos as nationalist groups and Antifa counter-protesters clashed in the streets, with loud chants, heated exchanges, and occasional physical altercations captured on camera.

In a September opinion poll conducted by TV Tokyo and the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, former Minister of State for Economic Security Takaichi was the frontrunner with 34% when respondents were asked who they believed should be the next Liberal Democratic Party president.

Five candidates vying for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency held a debate with high school students, emphasizing long-term strategies for Japan’s economy and other policy areas.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership race entered its fifth day on September 26th, with Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi forced to apologize after his campaign team was found to have requested supportive online posts from backers.

The Supreme Court’s Second Petty Bench, presided over by Chief Justice Akira Ojima, ruled on September 26th that the current system for apportioning seats in the House of Representatives is constitutional, despite a maximum disparity of 2.06-to-1 in the value of votes cast in last October’s general election.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced on September 25th that it will withdraw its "Africa Hometown" project, with President Akihiko Tanaka explaining at a press conference that widespread misunderstanding had created excessive burdens for local governments.