Photo/Illutration Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi speaks at the Nov. 10 session of the Upper House Judicial Affairs Committee. (Koichi Ueda)

Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi is walking back a comment he made about capital punishment that some Liberal Democratic Party insiders said could end up costing him his job.

At a meeting of lawmakers from the ruling LDP on Nov. 9, Hanashi said he has a “low-profile” position in the Cabinet that only gets him onto the noon TV news programs when he officially approves the carrying out of a death sentence.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno called Hanashi to his office on Nov. 10 to admonish him for the gaffe. After the meeting, Hanashi said he was given a stern warning by Matsuno about being more careful with his words.

“I want him to become aware of the gravity of his responsibility and carry out his duties vigorously,” Matsuno said at his Nov. 10 news conference.

At a subsequent session of the Upper House Judicial Affairs Committee, Hanashi retracted the comment because “it gave the impression I was making light of my position.”

But that may not be the end of the issue now that politicians smell blood in the water.

Opposition party lawmakers said Hanashi is unfit to continue as justice minister. Even some members of the LDP called for his removal to insulate Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet from potential blowback.

“It is clear (Hanashi) is not taking the death sentence seriously,” a former Cabinet minister said. “There will be no avoiding removing him from his post. This is a sign of a Cabinet on its last legs.”
And this is not the only potential problem Hanashi is facing.

Hanashi had also said at the Nov. 9 gathering that he was gracing more headlines recently because of the Unification Church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

One lawmaker close to the prime minister pointed out that Daishiro Yamagiwa was removed as state minister in charge of economic revitalization after a series of reports emerged about his ties to the Unification Church.

The lawmaker said the damage to the Kishida Cabinet would be great if a similar development unfolded with Hanashi.

Another LDP lawmaker pointed to the fact that Hanashi belongs to the party faction headed by Kishida.

“Others will think Kishida is protecting him because he is from his faction,” the lawmaker said.

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