Less than a month after joining the cabinet! Japan's Nong Shui Xiang Hesheng resigns, Gao City cabinet leader steps down due to scandal

Japan's Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Kazuo Kazuo was suspected of using free shuttle buses to pick up supporters during the House of Representatives election, which violated the Public Office Election Act. In addition, he previously revealed that he had deleted local government road budgets that did not support him, triggering strong criticism from the opposition parties. Kazuo Kazuo went to the Prime Minister's Residence this evening and submitted his resignation to Sanae Takaichi. Less than a month after entering the cabinet on the 17th of last month, Kazuo Kazuo became the first cabinet member to resign due to a scandal since Takaichi came to power in October last year.

According to comprehensive Japanese media reports, after being questioned by the House of Representatives Budget Committee today, Hesheng went to the Prime Minister's residence to meet with Takaichi in the evening and formally submitted his resignation. As the Gao City government is preparing to promote the most important consumption tax reduction bill in this session of Congress, and the 10 opposition factions in the Senate have reached a consensus today to propose an accountability resolution in the Senate. Considering that if Congress continues to be involved in cabinet scandals, the bill review may be suspended, Gao City finally decided to accept the resignation.

Kazuo's controversy first originated from his speech at a local Liberal Democratic Party rally in May this year. At that time, he mentioned Nasu Karasuyama City and Nakagawa Town in Tochigi Prefecture, claiming that the local road budget had been "significantly reduced". Since the heads of the two local governments reportedly did not support him in the House of Representatives election in February this year, the relevant remarks were questioned as involving the use of central budget allocations to retaliate against local heads with different political stances.

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism confirmed that Kazuo asked the province about the relevant budget allocation situation in mid-February this year, before the annual budget was established, but said it did not confirm that he had pressured to delete the budget. However, the budget allocated by the central government for related projects led by local governments in the two local governments in 2026 has indeed been reduced compared with the previous year, further arousing doubts from the opposition parties.

In addition to the road budget dispute, Hesheng was also exposed by a weekly magazine that during the House of Representatives elections in 2024 and February this year, the camp arranged free shuttle buses to transport supporters, which may involve the provision of benefits prohibited by the "Public Office Election Law".

Hesheng denied breaking the law during his defense in Congress on the 13th, emphasizing that the shuttle bus arrangement was not a benefit or donation, and had been confirmed by firm personnel to the Electoral Affairs Commission in advance. However, the opposition parties pointed out after verification that the electoral control unit had no relevant inquiry records. Ji Hesheng changed his story today and said that the secretary may have asked about the recording method of the election campaign expense income and expenditure report, and there was a gap in his previous statement.

In addition, "Weekly Bunshun" broke the news today that the Hesheng camp had paid many staff members involved in election activities such as polling in the past. If true, it may have violated election regulations, causing the controversy to continue to expand.

Takaichi told the House of Representatives Budget Committee today that it is not yet possible to conclude that Kazuo's actions are illegal, but he regrets that he has not been able to provide a convincing explanation to the people and asked him to further fulfill his responsibility to explain. Gao City has previously stated that it will not hesitate to deal with personnel matters if it is found to be illegal.

Today, the opposition parties decided jointly by the chairmen of the 10 congressional countermeasures committees of the 10 Senate party groups to prepare an accountability resolution for Hesheng. Since the ruling coalition does not hold a majority of seats in the Senate, the accountability bill is likely to pass.

Hesheng was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012 and has been re-elected for six terms. He once served as Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. He only entered the cabinet for the first time on September 17 in the second high-end reform cabinet.