Japanese PM Takaichi Faces Backlash Over Gift Catalogs to LDP Lawmakers

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi drew sharp criticism from opposition parties on Wednesday after admitting she distributed congratulatory gift catalogs to her party’s elected House of Representatives lawmakers following the February 8 general election, while insisting no laws were broken.

During a parliamentary session, Takaichi explained that her local Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) branch in Nara Prefecture’s second constituency used political funds to send booklets to each of the party’s 315 victorious lawmakers. Each catalog allowed orders up to around 30,000 yen ($190) per person.

“We donated the gifts as the LDP branch… to praise their victories in the very tough election,” Takaichi said in response to an opposition lawmaker’s question. She represents that constituency and noted the catalogs excluded herself. In a late Tuesday X post, after media reports surfaced, she added that no government subsidies were used.

The LDP won 316 of 465 lower house seats in the election, including Takaichi’s, securing a three-quarters majority with coalition partner Japan Innovation Party.

Opposition lawmakers invoked a similar controversy last March, when then-Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba—now Takaichi’s predecessor—faced backlash for giving 100,000-yen gift vouchers to first-time LDP winners from the October 2024 election. Masayo Tanabu, who grilled Takaichi, warned that “money and politics” issues persist amid inflation.

Junya Ogawa of the Centrist Reform Alliance called it a reflection of the LDP’s “old culture” on gifts and spending. Motohisa Furukawa of the Democratic Party for the People said it “deepens public distrust” and suggested the LDP’s landslide made Takaichi “big-headed.”

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki countered at a news conference that the government expects public understanding with “thorough explanations.”

The disclosure fuels ongoing distrust in LDP money handling, tied to a 2023 slush fund scandal centered on the faction once led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe—Takaichi’s ideological ally. That scandal hurt the LDP in 2024 and 2025 elections under Ishiba.