Fumio Kishida left the prime minister's office on April 20. Shotaro, the elder son of the Prime Minister, is behind him, who serves as the executive secretary of the prime minister. Asahi Shimbun file photo Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday his son is resigning as his executive policy secretary to take responsibility for using the prime minister's residence for a private party at which the merrymaking was exposed in magazine photos that triggered public outrage.
Shotaro Kishida, his father's executive secretary for political affairs and eldest son, invited a group of people including relatives to a year-end party on Dec. 30 at the Prime Minister's official residence.
Images published in the Shukan Bunshun magazine show Kishida's son and his relatives posing on red-carpeted stairs in an imitation of the group photos taken of newly appointed Cabinets with his son at the center - the position reserved for the prime minister. Other photos show guests standing at a podium as if holding a news conference.
As secretary for the prime minister's political affairs, a public position, his actions were inappropriate and I decided to replace him to have him take responsibility, Kishida said. His son, Takayoshi Yamamoto, will be replaced on Thursday.
Kishida admitted that he had greeted the guests but said he didn't stay at the dinner party.
He said he had severe reprimanded his son for the party but that failed to quell ongoing criticism from opposition lawmakers and public outrage, which have pushed down his support ratings.
His son, Kishida Kishida, became the policy secretary of the prime minister in October, one of eight secretary posts for the prime minister. The nomination, seen as a step in grooming him as his heir, was criticized as nepotism, which is widespread in Japanese politics, which has been dominated by hereditary parliaments. He was previously his father's private secretary.
It was not the first time that Kishida's son had been accused of making use of his official position for private purposes. He was reprimanded for using the embassy cars for private sightseeing in Britain and Paris and for buying souvenirs for Cabinet members at a luxury department store in London when he accompanied his father on trips.
Hirokazu Matsuno, cabinet secretary, said the son's party at the official residence was inappropriate and pledged to ensure proper management of the facility to prevent future misuse.
The nearly 100-year-old building was the prime minister's office and became the living quarters in 2005 when a new office was built.