Photo/Illutration Nobuchiyo Kishi announces his candidacy for a Lower House seat that his father, Nobuo, held on Feb. 7 in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture. (Masahiro Kakihana)

A nephew of slain Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched his political career with a misstep and soon backtracked by removing a family tree from his campaign website that proved much more controversial than anticipated.

The family history chart revealed the deep familial connections Nobuchiyo Kishi, 31, has with major figures from Japanese politics, and it quickly attracted backlash on social media for flaunting those ties.

“It’s so evident for Kishi that politics is nothing but a family-owned business,” one user posted.

Another wrote, “Apparently, his family pedigree is Kishi’s strongest selling point.”

After the furor erupted, the chart was taken down on the afternoon of Feb. 13.

It comes nearly a week after he announced his candidacy at a Feb. 7 news conference for the April 23 Lower House by-election to succeed his father.

His father, Nobuo Kishi, 63, a former defense minister, resigned from the seat, as well as his job as a close aide to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Feb. 3, citing illness.

Four days later, Nobuo’s oldest son and close aide, Nobuchiyo, announced that he would run for his seat to represent the No. 2 district of Yamaguchi Prefecture, which includes Iwakuni.

Nobuchiyo began posting his political activities online on Feb. 8.

The family tree listed seven men and was posted side by side with his profile on the site’s main page.

The chart listed Nobuchiyo and his father, Nobuo, who is a younger brother of Abe.

It notably included Abe’s father, Shintaro Abe, a former foreign minister and an influential politician in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and Abe’s grandfather Kan Abe, who was a Lower House member.

The chart also listed Nobuchiyo's great-grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, a former prime minister, and Nobusuke’s younger brother Eisaku Sato, also a former prime minister.

Kishi’s office admitted it has removed the chart but declined to explain why.

The page also includes Kishi’s biography, outlining his work history as a former reporter at Fuji Television Network Inc.

In November 2020, Kishi became an aide to his father, who was defense minister at the time.

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