China News Service, March 2 According to Japanese media reports, on March 1, Japan's Cabinet Public Relations Officer and Prime Minister's Public Relations Director Yamada Makiko resigned on the grounds of physical discomfort.
She was criticized for accepting the per capita hospitality of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's eldest son Suga Masatake, 74,000 yen (approximately 4,500 yuan), and became a de facto resignation.
Yoshihide Suga apologized for this matter.
Data map: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Yamada is 60 years old and became Japan's first female Prime Minister's secretary when the former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in power. In September 2020, he became the first female cabinet reporter and was responsible for presiding over Suga Yoshihide's press conference.
Japanese media previously broke the news that in November 2019, Yamada participated in a gathering initiated by Suga Masasu as a review officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, spending 74,000 yen per capita.
On March 1, Yamada Makiko resigned due to physical discomfort.
Yoshihide Suga told the media at the official residence: "I am very sorry for causing trouble to the Congress and everyone. I hope that the successor will be decided as soon as possible." The opposition party continued to pursue the claim that "the radio and television administration is suspected of being distorted."
A reporter asked what he knew about the responsibility of appointing Yamada, but Yoshihide Suga did not answer directly.
He explained that the reason for appointing Yamada as the official of the newspaper is that she has rich administrative experience and served as the secretary of the prime minister when there are few female officials, and has high hopes for her.
Yoshihide Suga said: "It is a pity to resign in this way."
When asked whether the appointment of the eldest son as the secretary of the general secretary was the beginning of the problem, Yoshihide Suga said that this was a matter of ten years ago, advocating that: "I haven't talked to the eldest son about the company."
On the issue of Yoshihide Suga’s eldest son’s hospitality for officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the opposition party stated that “because it was the invitation of the Prime Minister’s son, the bureaucrats could not refuse. The cause of the problem lies with the Prime Minister” and expressed strong dissatisfaction.