Tokyo International News Agency

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has publicly disclosed that she was injured when her hand was strongly pulled during a campaign speech, aggravating her long-standing chronic condition, rheumatoid arthritis. This revelation has ignited a lively debate on social media, intertwining concerns about the Prime Minister's health with demands for accountability in national politics. On February 1, the Prime Minister revealed her history of rheumatoid arthritis, explaining that her hand was injured and swollen during handshakes at an election rally, necessitating treatment from a medical officer. This announcement followed the last-minute cancellation of her scheduled appearance on NHK's "Sunday Debate" program on the same day. However, criticism arose from some social media users when it was reported that while the Prime Minister withdrew from "Sunday Debate," she subsequently participated in another campaign speech. Questions were raised, such as: "It's medi...

On the 1st, Ms. Takaichi suddenly cancelled her scheduled appearance on "Sunday Debate" at the last minute. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) explained the reason as "severe arm pain requiring treatment." However, as she proceeded with her planned campaign speeches in Gifu and Aichi prefectures later that same day, an outpouring of criticism on social media, accusing the explanation of being "contradictory," has caused a significant stir. Ms. Tomoko Tamura of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) also commented on her X (formerly Twitter) account, wishing Ms. Takaichi a speedy recovery while stating, "There are many things we need to discuss in the one and only party leader debate during an election campaign." This questioned Ms. Takaichi's absence from such an important discussion. Other users echoed this sentiment, with comments like, "If it's just arm pain, there wouldn't be a last-minute cancellation 30 minutes before" and...