Kentarou Asahi and Akiko Ikuina face allegations of violating election law
- Kentarou Asahi and Akiko Ikuina, two senior Japanese political figures who assumed posts in a September cabinet reshuffle as Deputy Minister for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and...
- During the May 20, 2022, gathering at Meijiza, Asahi and Ikuina took the stage in front of a banner that read Let’s win the House of Councillors election!!
- When questioned by Shukan Bunshun, the offices of both Asahi and Ikuina issued identical written statements defending their participation.
Kentarou Asahi and Akiko Ikuina, two senior Japanese political figures who assumed posts in a September cabinet reshuffle as Deputy Minister for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and Political Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs respectively, face allegations of violating the Public Offices Election Act through pre-campaign electoral activities held prior to the July 2022 House of Councillors election. Shukan Bunshun reported that the two lawmakers participated in a May 20, 2022, theater viewing event at Meijiza organized by the Tokyo Federation of Various Organizations, a support group for the Liberal Democratic Party.
The Meijiza Theater Viewing Event and Campaign Sashes
During the May 20, 2022, gathering at Meijiza, Asahi and Ikuina took the stage in front of a banner that read Let’s win the House of Councillors election!!
according to reporting by Shukan Bunshun. Both lawmakers wore sashes bearing their names—Kentarou Asahi
and Akiko Ikuina
—while addressing the audience. The official announcement date for the July 2022 upper house election was June 22, 2022, placing the Meijiza theater event a month prior to the official campaign window.
Identical Office Responses and Legal Interpretations
When questioned by Shukan Bunshun, the offices of both Asahi and Ikuina issued identical written statements defending their participation. Their offices stated, The question concerns a gathering of an intra-prefectural federation organization, and does not fall under the points of concern raised by your magazine.
Anno stated that even gatherings hosted by internal prefectural federation organizations can constitute premature pre-campaign activities under election law. According to case law and precedent, election campaigns are defined as acts directly or indirectly necessary and advantageous for the purpose of winning votes for a specific candidate in a specific election. Anno noted that because the Meijiza event featured an election-specific banner urging victory and candidates wearing name-specific sashes, observers would naturally interpret the appearance as a call to vote for those individuals in the upcoming upper house election, meaning that a regional federation affiliation does not exempt the participants from pre-campaign restrictions.
Cabinet Appointments and Ongoing Coverage
The allegations surface following the cabinet reshuffle in September, which placed Asahi, 51, in the role of Deputy Minister for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and Ikuina, 58, in the post of Political Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Additional details regarding the Meijiza gathering and on-the-ground reporting concerning the Tokyo Federation of Various Organizations office and LDP Tokyo branch contacts were published by the Shukan Bunshun Digital edition.
