Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lost two ministers yesterday. And the opposition, scenting blood, is out for more heads. The resignations of trade and industry minister Yuko Obuchi, once tipped to be the country's first woman PM, and justice minister Midori Matsushima, take down two of the five women promoted in a reshuffle last September aimed particularly at improving the prime minister's image among women. Abe spoke of his "Womenomics" plan – "to let women shine" – as central to economic recovery by raising women's participation in the workforce.
Both women were under attack over electoral irregularities, the former’s support group having allegedly misused political funds – spending cash on theatre tickets for supporters – the latter, for distributing free paper fans with her picture on them to voters.
Now, to add to Abe's woes, defence minister Akinori Eto also faces allegations over political funds, while the minister responsible for handling the issue of abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korea, Eriko Yamatani, has been shown in photographs associating with members of an ultra-rightwing nationalist group accused of inciting hatred against the Japanese-Korean community.
Abe’s support in the polls wobbled last weekend but remains as strong as his healthy parliamentary majority, so the resignations, are unlikely to prompt a political crisis. But they may delay the controversial recommissioning of the country’s closed nuclear programme – two plants are due to resume output early next year. Obuchi’s job had been to sell the idea.
The prime minister may also be under pressure to reconsider elements of his own brand of structural reform, “Abenomics”, notably a looming deeply unpopular consumption tax increase which is in the pipeline. Fiscal hawks insist he must press ahead to repair the public finances, but others worry it may derail the country’s weak recovery. Weekend polls found two thirds of voters oppose the tax rise.