By Takuya Nishimura, Senior Fellow, Asia Policy Point
Former editorial writer for the Hokkaido Shimbun
You can find his blog, J Update here.
October 18, 2026
After hesitating for two weeks, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi replaced her Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Kazuo Yana, with Arata Takebe, a former state minister of agriculture. Takaichi’s two-week indecisiveness about Yana’s status revealed her weaknesses in two things: positioning her staff and Diet affairs. Her inability to act quickly stems from her lack of experience as the supreme leader of Japanese politics.
When the weekly magazines Daily Shincho and Weekly Bunshun (online edition) reported on September 30 on Yana’s speech and his pork-barrel (or reverse pork-barrel) politics, Takaichi, surprisingly, did not consider firing him. She said that he would make amends for the scandal by his hard work as minister. But once the magazines published other scandals that could violate other laws, Takaichi decided to move. It took two weeks for Takaichi to understand the seriousness of Yana’s conduct.
Lack of Close Allies
It is likely that Takaichi appointed Yana in the September reshuffle of her cabinet because he was one of her few allies. When Takaichi was the Chairwoman of the LDP Policy Research Council between 2021 and 2022, Yana supported Takaichi in his capacity as a director on agriculture policy. Takaichi respected Yana’s knowledge about agriculture policies. Yana submitted his proposal to be agriculture minister to Takaichi, and Takaichi accepted it.
Usually, a prime minister orders his or her staff to conduct thorough background checks on the people under consideration for ministerial positions. Yana made his troubling speech in May. Other doubts about Yana’s failure to follow election norms, such as a shuttlebus service to campaign rallies and financial awards to the campaign’s telephone solicitors, had arisen earlier during his election campaign in February. Takaichi could have (and should have) known about Yana’s inappropriate conduct before she appointed him as agriculture minister in September. Her failure must have meant that she did not have a staff to advise her on the backgrounds of her ministers.
While Takaichi was thinking about letting Yana stay at his position, LDP lawmakers were hoping for his quick replacement. Yana’s scandal had the feel of pork barrel politics, which LDP lawmakers are attempting to excise. Takaichi failed to realize that the LDP was concerned that Yana’s scandal would ignite broader criticisms of LDP politics.
During the time when the Ministry of Finance is formulating the national budget for the next fiscal year, ordinarily every December, local business leaders visit Tokyo to meet with their local Diet members to request appropriations for roads, bridges, ports, or other business infrastructure. If their request is granted, the local leaders will work for the lawmaker in his or her election campaign.
The lawmaker can ask the ministries how the budget is being allocated but cannot demand specific favors on the budget. However, consultations about the budget will exert pressure on the ministries. If a ministry has a project that requires the lawmaker’s political support, then the bureaucrats in the ministry can formulate a budget advantageous to the lawmaker. This is an interdependence between the politician and the bureaucrat.
Takaichi does not have experience as LDP secretary general, a position that oversees election and Diet affairs. Takaichi simply described Yana’s cynical speech as “unhip” in her discussions with opposition parties in the Diet. But Yana’s reference to the budget incident in his speech as an example of his influence over the budget was a necessary move for a lawmaker who lost in his single-seat district in the last election, even though it was inappropriate in a moral perspective. It must be hard for Takaichi to imagine Yana’s electoral weakness.
Novice in Diet Affairs
Another failure of Takaichi was that she did not decide to replace Yana until opposition parties united to attack Yana and Takaichi in the Diet. Typically, a prime minister replaces a minister mired in scandal on a Friday before it can affect the schedule and media coverage in the coming week. However, Takaichi let the matter linger and did not fire Yana until Wednesday October 14. She had to face harsh criticism from the opposition parties on the scandal and was held accountable for her appointment of Yana.
The highest priority for Takaichi in this Diet session is passing bills to cut the consumption tax on food. The LDP Diet Affairs Committee has had to scurry to schedule the discussion on the tax cut bill. Takaichi’s late decision on Yana jeopardized the schedule. The LDP Diet affairs team had to negotiate with the opposition parties on a new schedule and managed to reach an agreement to begin the discussion on October 20.
With no career in Diet affairs, Takaichi does not understand the delicacy of negotiations over the Diet’s schedule. The Diet has many unwritten rules. All the parties in the Diet share a common interest in a detailed examination of such significant issues as a consumption tax (and its reduction). The Diet often requires the prime minister’s attendance, which may often become a condition of taking the final voting for a bill. But Takaichi whines about the frequency of her appearances, frustrated that they interfere with her busy life of doing her make up, bathing in the early morning, and cooking.
The leading parties are discussing reducing the amount of time a prime minister must spend before the Diet. But it is up to Takaichi to manage the issues that need detailed consultation with the Diet.
Oddly enough, the approval ratings for the Takaichi Cabinet did not show a steep decline, even after she replaced Yana. Asahi Shimbun reported only a one percentage point decline to 50 percent, while Yomiuri Shimbun showed a two-point loss to 57 percent. These results indicate that many the Japanese do not understand Takaichi’s accountability for the appointment of Yana as agriculture minister.
Former editorial writer for the Hokkaido Shimbun
You can find his blog, J Update here.
October 18, 2026
After hesitating for two weeks, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi replaced her Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Kazuo Yana, with Arata Takebe, a former state minister of agriculture. Takaichi’s two-week indecisiveness about Yana’s status revealed her weaknesses in two things: positioning her staff and Diet affairs. Her inability to act quickly stems from her lack of experience as the supreme leader of Japanese politics.
When the weekly magazines Daily Shincho and Weekly Bunshun (online edition) reported on September 30 on Yana’s speech and his pork-barrel (or reverse pork-barrel) politics, Takaichi, surprisingly, did not consider firing him. She said that he would make amends for the scandal by his hard work as minister. But once the magazines published other scandals that could violate other laws, Takaichi decided to move. It took two weeks for Takaichi to understand the seriousness of Yana’s conduct.
Lack of Close Allies
It is likely that Takaichi appointed Yana in the September reshuffle of her cabinet because he was one of her few allies. When Takaichi was the Chairwoman of the LDP Policy Research Council between 2021 and 2022, Yana supported Takaichi in his capacity as a director on agriculture policy. Takaichi respected Yana’s knowledge about agriculture policies. Yana submitted his proposal to be agriculture minister to Takaichi, and Takaichi accepted it.
Usually, a prime minister orders his or her staff to conduct thorough background checks on the people under consideration for ministerial positions. Yana made his troubling speech in May. Other doubts about Yana’s failure to follow election norms, such as a shuttlebus service to campaign rallies and financial awards to the campaign’s telephone solicitors, had arisen earlier during his election campaign in February. Takaichi could have (and should have) known about Yana’s inappropriate conduct before she appointed him as agriculture minister in September. Her failure must have meant that she did not have a staff to advise her on the backgrounds of her ministers.
While Takaichi was thinking about letting Yana stay at his position, LDP lawmakers were hoping for his quick replacement. Yana’s scandal had the feel of pork barrel politics, which LDP lawmakers are attempting to excise. Takaichi failed to realize that the LDP was concerned that Yana’s scandal would ignite broader criticisms of LDP politics.
During the time when the Ministry of Finance is formulating the national budget for the next fiscal year, ordinarily every December, local business leaders visit Tokyo to meet with their local Diet members to request appropriations for roads, bridges, ports, or other business infrastructure. If their request is granted, the local leaders will work for the lawmaker in his or her election campaign.
The lawmaker can ask the ministries how the budget is being allocated but cannot demand specific favors on the budget. However, consultations about the budget will exert pressure on the ministries. If a ministry has a project that requires the lawmaker’s political support, then the bureaucrats in the ministry can formulate a budget advantageous to the lawmaker. This is an interdependence between the politician and the bureaucrat.
Takaichi does not have experience as LDP secretary general, a position that oversees election and Diet affairs. Takaichi simply described Yana’s cynical speech as “unhip” in her discussions with opposition parties in the Diet. But Yana’s reference to the budget incident in his speech as an example of his influence over the budget was a necessary move for a lawmaker who lost in his single-seat district in the last election, even though it was inappropriate in a moral perspective. It must be hard for Takaichi to imagine Yana’s electoral weakness.
Novice in Diet Affairs
Another failure of Takaichi was that she did not decide to replace Yana until opposition parties united to attack Yana and Takaichi in the Diet. Typically, a prime minister replaces a minister mired in scandal on a Friday before it can affect the schedule and media coverage in the coming week. However, Takaichi let the matter linger and did not fire Yana until Wednesday October 14. She had to face harsh criticism from the opposition parties on the scandal and was held accountable for her appointment of Yana.
The highest priority for Takaichi in this Diet session is passing bills to cut the consumption tax on food. The LDP Diet Affairs Committee has had to scurry to schedule the discussion on the tax cut bill. Takaichi’s late decision on Yana jeopardized the schedule. The LDP Diet affairs team had to negotiate with the opposition parties on a new schedule and managed to reach an agreement to begin the discussion on October 20.
With no career in Diet affairs, Takaichi does not understand the delicacy of negotiations over the Diet’s schedule. The Diet has many unwritten rules. All the parties in the Diet share a common interest in a detailed examination of such significant issues as a consumption tax (and its reduction). The Diet often requires the prime minister’s attendance, which may often become a condition of taking the final voting for a bill. But Takaichi whines about the frequency of her appearances, frustrated that they interfere with her busy life of doing her make up, bathing in the early morning, and cooking.
The leading parties are discussing reducing the amount of time a prime minister must spend before the Diet. But it is up to Takaichi to manage the issues that need detailed consultation with the Diet.
Oddly enough, the approval ratings for the Takaichi Cabinet did not show a steep decline, even after she replaced Yana. Asahi Shimbun reported only a one percentage point decline to 50 percent, while Yomiuri Shimbun showed a two-point loss to 57 percent. These results indicate that many the Japanese do not understand Takaichi’s accountability for the appointment of Yana as agriculture minister.
