【望月衣塑子(青木理)】2026年10月22日 武部新農相、関芳弘文科大臣、日本維新の会から初入閣の中司宏行行政改革担当大臣の疑惑について

New Agriculture Minister Takebe Arata Faces Three Scandals in Six Days

When former Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yanagino resigned, his successor Takebe Arata (武部新) had barely settled into the job before three separate allegations were reported, all within six days of his appointment.

The first, broken by Shukan Bunshun among others, involves a possible Public Offices Election Act violation over a beer party held in Takebe's constituency for approximately 1,300 guests. Attendees paid ¥2,000 per ticket for all-you-can-drink service, prompting criticism that the arrangement amounted to an illegal benefit. Takebe's camp countered that the prizes were everyday household goods purchased at a home-improvement store for under ¥2,000 and therefore did not constitute a benefit. The program noted, however, that former minister Matsushima Midori resigned over distributing uchiwa fans, and another Diet member resigned over giving out incense sticks — suggesting all-you-can-drink is a more serious offense, not a lesser one.

The second allegation is that a cameraman officially registered as an unpaid volunteer during the election was actually paid ¥860,000. Takebe's side maintains the payments were for documenting Liberal Democratic Party activities and do not violate the Public Offices Election Act.

The third concerns ¥300,000 received on election day from a trucking company that holds public-works contracts — a clear conflict of interest. Takebe's office said it would correct the filing, refund the money, and resubmit the income-and-expenditure report, a response that drew the on-air question of whether simply refunding the money should be considered adequate.

Education Minister Seki Yoshihiro: Prohibited Party Inside the Diet Building

The allegation against Education Minister Seki Yoshihiro (関芳弘), reported by Akahata, is that he held a political fundraising party in the basement restaurant of the Diet members' office building, where such events are expressly prohibited. Past incidents of the same kind led to warnings for those involved, and Seki has now received a formal stern warning.

Declared income from the party was approximately ¥800,000 — the equivalent of forty tickets at ¥20,000 each — yet food receipts total only ¥60,000–¥70,000, casting serious doubt on whether forty people actually attended. House of Councillors member Yamazoe Taku (山添拓) pressed Seki in the Diet on the attendance figure; Seki declined to answer. There are also indications that a payment from a Kobe Gakuin University professor, which was in fact a donation, was recorded as a party-ticket purchase — which, if confirmed, would constitute a violation of the Political Funds Control Act. Seki has offered an apology, but the full scope of the matter remains under question.

Administrative Reform Minister Nakatsuka Hiroyuki: Bribery Behind a Prior Collusion Conviction?

Nakatsuka Hiroyuki (中司宏行), the first Nippon Ishin no Kai (日本維新の会) member to enter the cabinet, was previously convicted and sentenced to prison for bid-rigging. Weekly Gendai has now published roughly four hours of secretly recorded conversation between Nakatsuka and former city councillor Hatsuda Toyosaburo (初田豊三郎), obtained through a freelance journalist's reporting.

Hatsuda served three years in prison for bribery and contacted Nakatsuka after his release. In the recording, Hatsuda uses the code word "ingo" (隠語) — said to represent units of either ¥1 million or ¥10 million — to reference past cash transfers, and Nakatsuka is heard responding, including with apparent nods. According to Hatsuda, he received ¥30 million from Obayashi Corporation; because his own company was in poor financial shape at the time, he did not split the money evenly but passed ¥4–5 million to Nakatsuka. Nakatsuka was never indicted for bribery, but reporter Mochizuki observed on-air: "Not being investigated is a different matter from the facts not having occurred."

Agriculture Minister: The "Cursed Portfolio"

The program discussed the Agriculture Minister post's long reputation as a political graveyard. Agriculture Minister Akagi (赤城) resigned; Agriculture Minister Matsuoka (松岡) died while being questioned by the Special Investigations Unit of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Office. More recently, an agriculture minister was dismissed after publicly stating that Japan had rice "to spare" and was replaced by Koizumi.

Takebe Arata's father, Takebe Tsutomu (武部勤), served as LDP secretary-general under the Koizumi administration and has been described as a "great yes-man." Takebe Arata is accordingly a second-generation hereditary politician, and some insiders reportedly had concerns before the appointment that he was a figure likely to cause problems.

Dysfunctional Vetting and the Role of the Media

The cascade of scandals has prompted criticism of the cabinet's pre-appointment background-check process. Under the Abe administration, a deputy chief cabinet secretary with a police background reportedly used the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (Naicho; 内閣情報調査室) to screen ministerial candidates. The current administration may not have that same capacity in place. Naicho itself is reportedly under consideration for an upgrade to a national intelligence agency.

All of the scoops were broken by Akahata, Shukan Bunshun, and Weekly Gendai, with major newspapers trailing behind — a pattern commentators highlighted as itself a sign of institutional dysfunction. Reporter Mochizuki responded: "Tokyo Shimbun will keep working hard too."