Takaichi's X posts fall outside Japan's government records rules

Social media posts by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae — her primary tool for promoting government policy — largely cover official matters yet remain outside the scope of government oversight, local media reported Tuesday.

According to the Mainichi Shimbun, the Japanese government holds that Takaichi's frequent posts on X, formerly Twitter, do not constitute administrative documents under the public records management law and are therefore not subject to preservation requirements.

The government's reasoning is that the account is not directly operated by the Cabinet Secretariat, which supports the cabinet.

The Mainichi said, however, that the majority of Takaichi's X posts deal not with personal matters but with government crisis management and response, or with the introduction of her flagship policies.

Since taking office last October, Takaichi posted more than 600 times on X through the end of last year.

Immediately after a major earthquake struck Kumamoto last month, she used X to announce the death toll directly — ahead of Kumamoto Prefecture's own announcement.

On Friday, she posted five lengthy messages in just five minutes rebutting public criticism that her government had failed to adequately address high prices, emphasizing what she described as her administration's achievements on inflation.

She said Japan's inflation situation was the best among the G7 nations, crediting the electricity and gas bill support measures she had pursued since taking office.

The Mainichi said Takaichi's posts could influence decision-making by administrative bodies, and called for measures such as mandating the preservation of such posts as official administrative documents so they can be used to verify the policy-making process after the fact.

Takaichi has favored posting on X over holding press conferences as her preferred means of policy communication. She has maintained a governing style in which she studies policy materials on her own and makes decisions while keeping in-person meetings — including working meals and discussions with bureaucrats and politicians — to a minimum.

The approach has drawn praise as a refreshing departure from the style of previous Japanese prime ministers and has helped boost her approval rating, but critics say it amounts to politics without genuine communication.

According to the Nikkei, the number of ministry officials Takaichi has met since taking office last October is roughly half the figure recorded by each of the three prime ministers who immediately preceded her.

The ministry officials she met most frequently were Ichikawa Keiichi, director of the National Security Secretariat, and Hara Kazuya, director of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.

This was attributed to Takaichi's emphasis on military and economic security policy, as well as instability in the Middle East and a deterioration in Japan-China relations that began early in her tenure.

The Liberal Democratic Party official she met most often was Kobayashi Takayuki, chair of the Policy Research Council, who coordinates policy inside and outside the party, while the cabinet minister she saw most frequently was Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki.

The Nikkei explained that the frequent contact with Finance Minister Katayama likely reflects the fact that Takaichi, a proponent of fiscal expansion, has kept her distance from the Finance Ministry — which is responsible for fiscal discipline — leaving the prime minister and the finance minister to deal directly with each other more often.