Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi denied any involvement in the creation or distribution of videos used to slander other political candidates [1].

The controversy centers on reports from Shukan Bunshun alleging that the Takaichi administration produced these videos during last year's Liberal Democratic Party leadership election [1, 5]. If proven, the coordination of such a campaign through official channels would raise serious questions about the ethics and legality of the Prime Minister's office operations.

During a Diet session on June 19 [3], Sakura Uchikoshi, a member of the House of Councillors for the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, questioned the Prime Minister regarding the relationship between her staff and the creators of the videos [1]. Uchikoshi asked, "Do you admit that the response stating the first secretary had no acquaintance with this entrepreneur was false?" [1].

Takaichi said that her office handles numerous interactions with people whose faces and names may not immediately align. She said that her secretary had no clear memory of the man and had never met him in person, leading to the understanding that they were not acquainted [1].

However, Takaichi said that she could not rule out the possibility that the secretary and the entrepreneur had participated in the same online meeting [1]. This admission follows conflicting reports, as some sources suggest the secretary denied participating in such meetings while other reports indicate the video creator testified to having interactions with the secretary [1, 4].

Takaichi previously said that her office did not participate in the creation of the videos [2]. The Prime Minister, who is 65 [1], said that while digital overlaps in meetings may have occurred, there was no direct collaboration to produce defamatory content [1].

Uchikoshi, 58 [1], continued to press for transparency regarding the communication logs between the Prime Minister's office and external digital consultants [1].

“"Our office was not involved in the creation of the videos."”

The Prime Minister's admission that her secretary and a suspected smear-campaign creator may have attended the same online meeting creates a gap in her previous denials of acquaintance. While Takaichi maintains that a shared digital space does not equal a personal relationship or professional collaboration, the discrepancy provides the opposition party with a foothold to challenge the credibility of the Prime Minister's official testimony in the Diet.