Opposition leaders call for farm minister's resignation over alleged road-budget retaliation

Opposition figures intensified attacks on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Kazuo Yana, accusing him of improperly using road-budget reductions to target two Tochigi prefecture municipalities that opposed him in the February election. Komeito leader Mitsunari Okamoto called the behavior “outrageous” and demanded Yana’s resignation, while senior Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Akira Koike echoed the call. The comments were first disclosed by Shukan Shincho, which said Yana told a local Liberal Democratic Party gathering in May that he had sharply cut the 2026 road budget for those towns.

Although Yana was elected via proportional representation after losing his constituency, his constituency still includes the two municipalities. Even within Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s coalition, some officials are questioning his handling of the issue. Yana has announced he will stay on as farm minister ahead of an extraordinary parliamentary session starting Monday.