Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faced renewed political pressure on October 19 as fresh opinion polls showed declining public support following a ministerial resignation, while her government signaled it could issue additional bonds to finance a planned two-year consumption tax exemption on food beginning in April 2027.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has accepted the resignation of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Kazuo Yana following controversial remarks about cutting government funding to municipalities that did not support him in an election, ending nearly two weeks of mounting criticism and leaving unresolved allegations of political pressure and election law violations.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yana submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on the evening of October 14 over a controversy involving shuttle buses and other issues, prompting Takaichi to acknowledge her responsibility for appointing him and announce plans to name a successor on October 15.
Russian authorities have arrested a Japanese journalist working for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper on suspicion of espionage, releasing footage of a security operation and accusing the reporter of gathering military intelligence, in a case that threatens to further strain relations between Tokyo and Moscow.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivered an unusually harsh rebuke of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Kazuo Yana on October 13, describing his claims about cutting road budgets in areas that failed to support him as "inappropriate" and "really lame," while signaling that she would reconsider whether he should remain in office as opposition lawmakers intensified their demands for his dismissal.
Japan's Agriculture Minister Kazuo Yana is facing mounting pressure to resign over remarks suggesting that government funding was reduced for municipalities that failed to support him in an election, with opposition parties considering a censure motion that could disrupt parliamentary deliberations on a consumption tax reduction bill.
The government’s plan to cut the consumption tax on food is turning into a broader fight over public spending, ministerial accountability and whether Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi can keep her autumn Diet agenda focused on household relief rather than political damage control.
The Japanese government has approved a bill to reduce the consumption tax on food from 8% to 1% for two years beginning in April 2027, while pledging to finance the measure without issuing deficit-covering government bonds, although it has yet to specify how it will cover the estimated 10 trillion yen cost.