Kishida fires his eldest son as executive secretary

Nepotism always comes back to haunt you.

Actual photos

https://twitter.com/bakusai_com/status/1662348650608218112

In other countries this kind of photos won't be used as political bargain at all. Just someone who is doing teenage pictures. However in Japan there are things considered as unnecessary holy.

Nepotism always comes back to haunt you.

If only that were true. Kishida is both son and grandson to former representatives of the Lower House. He’s also related to the Miyazawa family. Kiichi Miyazawa was once PM. 45% of LDP Diet members are second-generation politicians. Nepotism is good business. I've no doubt junior will be back shortly.

@Moonraker

Second (or third) generation politicos who get elected is not truly nepotism.

Yes, legacy and family heritage is an advantage for getting elected by the public, but nepotism is the advantage when receiving appointments or other favors, etc outside of (assumingly fair) elections.

Plus, 28 prime ministers have been the sons of Diet members. I can easily imagine young Shotaro is destined for the top. That's the tradition of Japan.

Let’s hope this is a start.

Nepotism just points to failures who couldn’t do it on their own.

Imagine it's on every channel ad nauseam at the moment. Foodies, take a back seat of the next few daya.

Like father, like son, poor judgement. Father for hiring, and son for being ignorant of how he would be scrutinized by the media.

Folks here screaming about "nepotism" are literally barking up the wrong tree. If per chance it had been Abe or Koizumi or a couple of other PM's, none of this would have mattered.

Kishida's coalition within the LDP is weak, and to keep the wolves at bay, he has to appease them to stay in power. Using nepotism as an excuse is just choosing to overlook the politics in play. Kishida should have known better in the first place to put his son in that position, but his ego told him otherwise.

When, someday, Kishida retires from politics, Shotaro will inherit his father’s constituency and the people of Hiroshima will vote for him and we’ll have a fourth-generation politician.

We created liberal democracies to end hereditary rulership. And yet we find that liberal democracies around the world are populated with political family dynasties. I think Frank Herbert said “It isn’t necessarily that power corrupts, but that it attracts the corruptible.”

It's a classic dilemma for every parent: does giving to your kids really help them?

The AP is reporting that he's resigning, which makes it seem like he's taking responsibility. But if Kishida is using stronger language than that, good job!

I don't think those pictures are that a big deal. They just show a bit of humor.

But nepotism is a problem here in Japan.

Interesting to see how this is reported by various news outlets:

Reuters: "Kishida says his son to quit"

Asahi: "Kishida's son to resign"

Yomiuri: "Kishida's son to resign"

Bloomberg: "Kishida fires son"

Nikkei: "Kishida sacks son"

I guess now we know the limit for open nepotism is 3 years lol

But nepotism is a problem here in Japan.

Ya think?

This is the land of political dynasties.

I mean sure it happens in other countries, BUT Japan just seems to function through them

Kishida is not even recognizing the problem and just made it up as if it was planned from the beginning to terminate his employment after the G7 summit. That means he can make any excuse to re-hire him as soon as the public forgets about this (something that unfortunately takes almost no time).

Wonder what other position will Shotaro be quietly shuffled into.

Kishida fires his eldest son as executive secretary

> Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that he will fire his eldest son Shotaro from his role as executive secretary on Thursday

Well, which is it. It's happening in the present or the future?

And who announces a firing days ahead? If he's gonna be fired, just do it. Now.

Kishida decided to sack his son in an attempt to minimize damage to his administration as key bills are still under deliberation, ruling lawmakers said.

NO ONE told you to hire him in the FIRST place.

"Of course, the responsibility for the appointment lies with me. I take it seriously," Kishida said

Oh really?!? None of us would have ever guessed...............

Be serious Kishida.....NOTHING you do is taken seriously. You're a complete fraud and failure.

> Kishida was lambasted by opposition politicians for nepotism over the appointment, but rejected the accusations, saying he offered the job to his son based on his "personality and insight."

His son has no insight.

He got the job just like you did, KISH.

NO ONE is being fooled by any of this crap.

Get rid of your son, then get rid of yourself.

We all know how Family Business can be so stressful and a source of major headaches and this case is NO Different.

Not seen the pics, but I'm sure he wasn't mooning in the mansion, Still, the brouhaha's all kinda uptight and soooooo very touchy - I'm sure his dad has done worse.

Good on Mr. Kishida for addressing this situation so decisively.

So, is he actually going to "fire" him (like, get out of the political areana), or reshuffle him to another position? There's a big difference. If it's a firing, just to be sent to another job in the political group, then it's actually not a firing.

The koenkai (support group) system is so fundamental to Japanese politics, especially rural politics where the LDP has its main base. It is a vote-gathering machine, for which it trades offers of pork, and is so entrenched that competition to the incumbent is not just regarded as an outsider but a trespasser and can be squeezed out by all kinds of backroom deals. These koenkai support a politician, not a party, and it is easy to inherit the position, with approval from those who run it. And the newly-minted candidate - same as the old one - becomes a virtual shoo-in for the Diet. With such guarantees, it is hard to not regard it as nepotism.

Interesting to see how this is reported by various news outlets:

Language reveals bias.

Younger generations will take over naturally anyway, when older generations reach biological age and pass away. It’s just impossible and irresponsible to give them grip on power intentionally before that unavoidable point of time. They in general and globally just lack everything nowadays, knowledge, manners, well-behavior, ethics, morals and all the rest, you name it. The news above is only one very small example for that, but hopefully it’s also a good lesson for similar ones. Don’t get it too wrong, of course he can make as many funny party photos or viral videos or anything as he likes and anywhere in the world where he likes, but just not in a parliamentary building and on that specific stairway when in an active political function given by his father. That problem was really easy to avoid with a bit of thinking beforehand, but as already said, they just cannot think such way anymore, even if they ever really wanted.

It's not like his son had to apply for the job. It was simply given to him.

He'll get shifted into some other job out of the public eye, this will probably mean a pay rise for him. That's how it is. If we lose our jobs then we suffer, he'll probably take a tax payer funded holiday to clear his mind before returning to an easier job with a sign on bonus.

He'll get shifted into some other job out of the public eye, this will probably mean a pay rise for him. That's how it is. If we lose our jobs then we suffer, he'll probably take a tax payer funded holiday to clear his mind before returning to an easier job with a sign on bonus.

Exactly. Being a Japanese politician is a Mickey Mouse job. They just do what they want, use the nation as their own piggy bank and the meek sheeple here just keep revoting them in no matter how badly they screw up.

In all honesty, I'm just jealous. Would LOVE to have a job like that.

Was a terrible move in the first place to put him there Kishidasan. Sent ALL the wrong messages to the nation. This aint pretty either. No doubt you will ride the storm unscathed though.

What Shotaro did was not that bad. But he really didn't deserve that position in the first place either, and he is old enough to know that you should act with greater propriety when given responsibilities.

Note: Some Japanese media have also reported that he was staying at love hotels with college students. As long as the students were willing participants I have no criticisms of this personally, but you would think that he would be more careful about his actions.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that he will fire his eldest son Shotaro from his role as executive secretary.

I assume this role is skin to a principal private secretary?

This important role should be determined by civil servants dedicated to supporting ministerial duties and decisions.

What a shame!

Shotaro did so well buying souvenirs.

He just couldn’t hack it as a cameraman

Never mind, he’ll soon step into some cushy job…

Ichigo, he’s not the only one.

"Some Japanese media have also reported that he was staying at love hotels with college students. As long as the students were willing participants I have no criticisms of this personally, but you would think that he would be more careful about his actions."

If so, this may be the key to his sudden firing...there might be something more embarrasing in the closet than those PM residence photos.

A young man having a good time with his friends and family and taking pictures? There are far worse father and son political scandal on other countries than this.

He's a child. Probably a spoilt eldest son.

Nepotism? Well sort of. Japan is still basically a feudal system where people, especially in the countryside where the power lies, vote for their masters. This happens in local and national elections.

I struggle to comprehend where or how Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida thought employing his eldest son Shotaro in such a role would not have consequences.

One undeniable fact, such an appointment has not done Shotaro any favours,

He set about taking advantage from the off.

if a picture paints a thousand words, the photo above, the disappointment etched on Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expression, is a story in itself.

Something tells me bocchan will return after the elections.

Right outcome but for the wrong reasons.

The Prime Minister should never be appointing his kids to senior positions like that, it just reeks of nepotism. The guy should never have been in the role in the first place.

But removing him for a photograph on a staircase that "lacked appropriateness" is just idiotic in the extreme. Google the photograph in question, its just him sitting on a staircase doing nothing offensive whatsoever. Who cares? Idiots care.

I said the same thing a few days ago. Politicians are people, people need to have fun and relax once in a while. These pictures aren't even serious. They're stupid, sure, but why are people so worked up over the prime minister's son having a little fun at their father's residence. Meanwhile, Joe Biden's son is smoking Parmesan cheese crumbs in his carpet because he thinks it could be crack. Imagine if THAT was a story about Kishi and his kids.

Loosen up a bit, Japan. Always walking around with stones in your shoes.

We all know how Family Business can be so stressful and a source of major headaches

Running a country isn't or at least shouldn't be a family business though.

No one family is capable enough to do that.

Unfortunately Kishida is allowed to make it as such.

If those two clowns had an actual business together, it wouldn't have lasted one week.

Pathetic nepotism....

Japanese politics is corrupt to the core and just moving the faces around doesn't make it less corrupt.

Who would a thought some basic family pictures, extremely inoffensive ones, would be the thing to get the guy fired from a position he seemed to get out of nowhere with no prior experience.

seriously though. As much as I don’t like them, out of all the actual unexplained and uncommented scandals the LDP has, why did this one land?

LDP literally won’t answer questions about suspicious deaths and cult connections, but my secretary taking a picture in the same place I took a picture ? -gasp- how dare they

rainydayToday  11:58 am JST

The Prime Minister should never be appointing his kids to senior positions like that, it just reeks of nepotism.

Also known as standard practice in the LDP.

GillislowTierToday  01:01 pm JST

As much as I don’t like them, out of all the actual unexplained and uncommented scandals the LDP has, why did this one land?

Possibly because it would be too embarrassing to disclose the real reasons.

Interesting which family related entanglements and old boy networks seem to be common here.

In many respects having to issue press releases to publicly ask your eldest son, family member, to tender his resignation or formally terminate his employment must be excruciating.

Whatever role Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's son Shotaro is or was deemed suitable for, the executive secretary office, with the benefit of hindsight, landed the fellow in political world of woe way over his head.

Some seem to be in favour of nepotism, looking at the pattern of voting. I'd love to hear from them, since most people here seem to be averse to it.

I know many good politicians locally, prefecture, and National Diet who are working hard in their offices to bring improvements for the people and country.