Takashii's Parliamentary Deliberation Time is 60% of Predecessors', Often Uses X to Respond to Criticism

The report points out that there are opinions that she uses this method to reduce opportunities to respond to sharp questions, but it tends to be a one-way transmission of information.

As of today, Takashii's cumulative attendance time at the House of Representatives and Senate budget committees is 70 hours; during Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's administration, when the Liberal Democratic Party was a minority ruling party, Ishiba's attendance time at the parliamentary deliberation of the 2025 budget bill for both houses reached 118 hours.

Takashii's attendance time at the parliamentary budget deliberation this time is the shortest in the past 10 years. Shinzo Abe, Yoshihide Suga, Fumio Kishida, and Shigeru Ishiba successively served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2017 to 2025. Takashii's attendance time at the above occasions was only about 70% of the average of 97 hours during this period.

Constitutional Democratic Party Senator Kenji Katsube argued today at the Senate Budget Committee, "It is the Prime Minister's important responsibility to answer our questions in the Diet and truly face the public's anxieties and concerns."

Even if the opposition party requested Takashii's attendance, the ruling party did not "accept all requests." A senior official of the Liberal Democratic Party frankly admitted, "We don't let the Prime Minister attend the Diet too often."

The report points out that Takashii rewrites the answers prepared by her staff herself, so preparation takes a considerable amount of time. In addition, Takashii once complained to those around her about "additional questions appearing at night" or was dissatisfied that opposition parties would ask questions unrelated to the budget bill. When Junya Ogawa, representative of the opposition's Reform Alliance, questioned in March whether cabinet members watched the World Baseball Classic (WBC), it sparked criticism online, with some netizens questioning "Is this question meaningful?"

However, the Japanese government and the ruling party also made moves in the House of Representatives Budget Committee that were considered contrary to parliamentary reform. Although the opposition party previously only requested relevant cabinet members to attend basic interpellations, the ruling party allowed all cabinet members to be present, which was seen as a way to prevent the opposition's questions from concentrating on Takashii. For cabinet members who were not questioned, this was equivalent to wasting time.

Regarding the use of social media, since Takashii took office more than five months ago, she has often used X to deal with crisis management and leader diplomacy. However, when she sent gift catalogs to fellow party members and received a large amount of criticism, she refused media interviews.

She regards X as an important platform for explanation, with over 2.8 million followers, demonstrating strong online vocal ability. She personally conceives posts, and even if drafted by public relations personnel, she always personally confirms them.

Takashii also responds to reports or announces important matters through posts, such as her post on the 5th of this month denying reports that she had stated she would not attend the intensive deliberation of the Senate Budget Committee. And she recently announced on X that Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Akazawa Ryosei also serves as the "Minister in charge of ensuring the stable supply of important materials in response to the Middle East situation."

In response, Professor Koji Nakakita of Chuo University pointed out, "Speaking through social media is one-way; issues can only be deepened through parliamentary discussion. Although the quality of opposition questions varies, a certain degree of tolerance is still needed." (Compiler: Yang Weijing) 1150407