Japan's internal affairs ministry said Tuesday that papers recently made public by an opposition party lawmaker that suggest political pressure was put on broadcasters by a past administration were compiled within the ministry.

The papers, revealed last Thursday, indicate that between 2014 and 2015, the government led by then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was eager to intervene in the freedom of broadcasting.

Sanae Takaichi, the minister in charge of broadcasting at the time, pledged Friday to quit as a lawmaker if the documents, released by Hiroyuki Konishi, a Diet member of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, were proven to be authentic.

Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Sanae Takaichi holds a press conference in Tokyo on March 7, 2023. (Kyodo)

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Japan minister vows to quit if document on broadcasters proven real


Although the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications acknowledged that the documents, comprising 78 pages in total, were drafted within the ministry, Takaichi, who now serves as economic security minister, continued Tuesday to cast doubt on their authenticity, saying she will not resign.

According to the documents, the administration under Abe, a hawkish conservative who was fatally shot last year while campaigning, urged the ministry to change its interpretation of "political fairness" under the broadcasting law.

But Takaichi, a politician known for sharing Abe's nationalistic stance on security and history issues, said Tuesday that she is "confident" that parts of the documents featuring her are incorrect, adding remarks mentioned in the papers were "fabricated."

Later in the day, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the internal affairs ministry has been scrutinizing the contents of the papers.

It is "important" for the ministry to explain to the public "in an easy-to-understand and appropriate manner" how it interprets political fairness in broadcasting, Kishida said.

Takaichi, meanwhile, told reporters that Konishi, who has been calling on her to resign as a lawmaker, should bear the burden of proving the authenticity of the documents.

Other opposition parties, including the Japanese Communist Party, have also begun calling for Takaichi to quit the Diet, dealing another blow to Kishida's government, whose approval ratings have been sluggish since the middle of last year.

Konishi has argued that Abe and his aides attempted to put political pressure on broadcasters airing programs hostile to his administration and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party -- actions that would violate Japan's Constitution.

Asked by Konishi about whether she would quit as a Cabinet member and as a lawmaker if the documents are proven to be real, Takaichi, speaking at a Diet session on Friday, answered, "Yes, I will."

In November 2014, a then special adviser to Abe, Yosuke Isozaki, criticized a TV program aired by a commercial broadcasting station, saying all of its commentators had voiced a similar view about the government, the papers showed.

The internal affairs ministry then explained its position to Abe in March 2015 on the interpretation of the broadcasting law, the documents said, to which Abe responded by emphasizing the need to rectify TV programs judged unfair.

On Tuesday, Isozaki told Kyodo News that he had discussed the matter with ministry officials, but declined to comment on whether the papers are real or fake.

During her term as minister of internal affairs and communications, Takaichi said it was possible broadcasters would be taken off the air if it was deemed they had repeatedly aired programs that lacked political fairness.

On Friday, Japan's current internal affairs minister, Takeaki Matsumoto, told parliament that his ministry has not changed its stance on the interpretation of political fairness under the broadcasting law.