High-ranking secretary vents: "Shukan Bunshun" is targeting Asahi Sanae, definitely taking money from China

Facing mounting exposés from Shukan Bunshun, Asahi Sanae's team can no longer avoid the issue and has begun discrediting Japanese media for allegedly accepting bribes.

On the 24th, Japanese magazine Shukan Bunshun once again revealed new dirt involving Asahi Sanae and her close allies. The publication claimed that Asahi’s secretary, Takehisa Kinoshita, privately accused Shukan Bunshun of targeting Asahi because it “accepts money from China,” adding that it receives “10 million yen weekly from China.”

After Shukan Bunshun exposed Kinoshita’s complaints, many Japanese netizens quickly voiced their criticism. One comment stated that if Asahi’s side truly believes the reports constitute defamation, they should sue Shukan Bunshun—but instead, Kinoshita accusing the media of being bribed only appears to reveal their own guilt and nervousness.

To be fair, Shukan Bunshun’s disclosures still raise a question. The insider information unveiled by Shukan Bunshun clearly wasn’t something easily obtained by just one media outlet—there must be someone within the Liberal Democratic Party continuously leaking material, and this person likely has deep knowledge of Asahi’s inner circle.

However, judging from Asahi Sanae’s recent reactions and the fact that Shukan Bunshun’s exposé pace has remained uninterrupted, Asahi’s team still hasn’t identified this “insider mole.” This internal loss of control may actually be more troubling for Asahi Sanae than the scandals themselves.

Naturally, while these exposés have somewhat affected Asahi Sanae’s popularity, they are far from undermining her political foundation. Japanese politics has always worked this way—if Asahi remains the LDP president after elections, these revelations amount to little more than “superficial wounds,” nowhere near enough to force her resignation.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1868968798712896/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author