An article published in the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine shows how Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s eldest son, Shotaro, invited his relatives late last year to whoop it up at a year-end party in the prime minister’s official residence, where he lives with his father.

Shotaro serves as executive secretary to Kishida in charge of political affairs.

One accompanying picture shows participants of the get-together lining up on the red-carpeted stairs to mimic a commemorative photo session for members of a new Cabinet.

Another image shows a man stretching out and eating ice cream on the stairs. Still others show people posing at the rostrum used for news conferences.

All that could only be described as an immoral mix of public and private matters that couldn’t have been less suitable for the space of public nature.

The official residence, where the prime minister and his family members are entitled to live, stands next door to the prime minister’s office and also has functions that allows the prime minister to perform his duties and entertain guests from both within and outside Japan.

Kishida told the Upper House Budget Committee on May 26 that he believes there was no problem with the act of dining together in the private living quarters and explained that he also showed up on the occasion to greet the participants of the year-end party.

Still, the prime minister admitted that their behaviors described in the report were “inappropriate” for the public space, and said he admonished Shotaro rigorously in person for the antics.  

He refused, however, to dismiss his son.

Year-end was a time when the public approval ratings for the Kishida Cabinet were in the serious doldrums, due partly to how the administration had overridden objections in holding a state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The dismal approval ratings were also partly due to successive revelations about the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s ties with the Unification Church, now formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, and to the successive dismissals of four Cabinet members.

It is unbelievable that Shotaro behaved in such an unprofessional manner despite being under the exacting eyes of the public.

We can only doubt that he is qualified to serve as executive secretary, whose duty is to support the prime minister.

Shotaro had come under heavy fire in January after it emerged that he had used official cars to make the rounds of tourist spots and to do shopping when he accompanied his father on a tour of Western countries earlier in the month.

He was denounced on that occasion, among other things, for mixing public and private matters, just like he is in the latest instance. 

Government officials denied the charges of any “inappropriate” behavior on Shotaro’s part, saying that he was only taking pictures of the exterior views for public relations purposes and buying souvenirs on behalf of the prime minister.

There are no signs, however, that the photos were ever used at a later time. 

The Asahi Shimbun filed a freedom-of-information request for the photos, but the government decided in March against disclosing them, saying they were not preserved because they do not equate to administrative documents.

That makes it only so difficult to believe in the case made by the government.

Let us recall that Shotaro’s appointment to his current post, despite his scanty experience in politics, was deemed as preparations for having him succeed his father, who is himself a “third-generation” lawmaker, in a lineage that dates back to his grandfather.

Kishida should be held responsible once more for having appointed his son, whose act of arrogance is a consequence of the nepotic arrangement.

Voters cast critical eyes toward the hereditary succession of politicians.

That presumably accounts for the unexpectedly tough battle fought by former Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi’s son during a Lower House by-election for Yamaguchi Prefecture’s No. 2 district, which he eventually won last month.

The approval ratings for the Kishida Cabinet have been on a recovery trend this year.

There is an upsurge of emotion among administration officials, who believe they have been able to impress audiences both at home and abroad with the results of the Group of Seven summit held recently in Hiroshima.

Kishida, however, should take to heart that public sentiment could drift away in the twinkling of an eye if his administration were to lose modesty and fail to look squarely at what is transpiring within its most intimate circles.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 28