Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Kazuo Yanagi submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on the night of October 14, and she accepted it. Korean outlets including Kyunghyang and Money Today said he leaves less than a month after joining in last month's reshuffle, the first minister to quit since the government took office.
According to Japanese and Korean reports, Yanagi went to the prime minister's office on the night of the 14th and conveyed his intention to step down. He reportedly said he decided himself to avoid burdening Diet deliberations and to end a situation in which he could not focus on farm policy. Takaichi accepted the resignation, said she takes responsibility for the appointment seriously, and said a successor would be named on the 15th.
광고 문의 · 300×250Two strands of controversy: a budget remark and election-law allegations
Per Kyunghyang, one strand is a remark at a gathering in his Tochigi constituency, reported by a weekly magazine, suggesting he had cut road budgets for areas whose mayors backed other candidates. That raised suspicion of political retaliation; some affected municipalities did see road-related national subsidies fall, and one local assembly passed a protest resolution. Yanagi withdrew the remark and apologized but said he was not directly involved in budget cuts.
The other is an alleged violation of the Public Offices Election Act. Money Today reported claims that his camp ferried supporters free of charge by shuttle bus in the 2024 lower house election and in this year's election. Yanagi has maintained that this was not unlawful; whether it was is for the authorities to determine, and it is not an established fact at this stage.
Prime minister's shifting stance and political fallout
Takaichi initially issued a stern warning and intended to keep him, but as opposition criticism and the election-law questions grew, she said on the 13th she would not hesitate to act if illegality were confirmed. Yanagi, a six-term lower house member first elected in 2012, entered the cabinet for the first time in last month's reshuffle. It is the first resignation of a minister over a scandal since the government launched last October.
The timing is delicate. Kyunghyang noted that Takaichi's signature consumption-tax cut bill is about to go to deliberation and that the ruling bloc lacks a majority in the upper house, so it needs opposition cooperation. The Democratic Party for the People had said it would struggle to take part if the issue were unresolved, and the Sankei Shimbun read the move as an effort to keep it from affecting deliberations. With another minister from the same reshuffle also facing a political-funds controversy, the choice of a successor and the vetting of ministers are likely to be the government's next test.
