Much more than previous scandals that have hit the Abe administration, why did this one resonate more among the Japanese people?
Abe in late November became the country's longest-serving prime minister. But accusations that he used taxpayer-funded cherry blossom viewing parties to reward his political supporters have resonated online like few other scandals, a new study of Twitter activity has found.
Though the prime minister remains blessed with a combination of weak opposition parties and few strong rivals within his own Liberal Democratic Party, the controversy has dented not only his approval ratings but, perhaps, his aura of invincibility.
Cherry blossom viewing, or hanami, is a spring tradition in Japan. Crowds gather under the white and pink blooms to eat, drink and be merry. For years, the government has hosted parties meant to honor the accomplishments of athletes, celebrities and other luminaries. Revelations that Abe's supporters were among the invitees, however, raised questions about inappropriate use of public funds and sent the Twitterati buzzing.
The daily number of tweets involving the term "sakura wo miru kai," or "cherry blossom viewing party," began to surge on Nov. 8, when the Japanese Communist Party grilled Abe in parliament, according to an analysis performed with an NTT Data market research service. The tweet count peaked at over 740,000 on Nov. 13, when the government announced the cancellation of next spring's event.
| Shinzo Abe's Dream Will Never Come True
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's legacy appears to be set—it's just not the one he always wanted. After a strong showing in late July ...
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s legacy appears to be set—it’s just not the one he always wanted. After a strong showing in late July parliamentary elections, he is now on track to become the country’s longest-serving prime minister and is able to boast of bringing a solid economic recovery to a country that had suffered many years of stagnation. What appears still out of reach, however, is his cherished personal goal of shedding the pacifist nature of Japan’s postwar constitution.
The election for one-half of the seats in the upper house of the Japanese parliament gave Abe’s ruling coalition a comfortable majority but still short of the two-thirds majority needed to endorse amendments to the constitution, something that has never been done since it came into effect 72 years ago. In the tally, Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) took 57 of the 124 seats being contested, while its Buddhist-linked ally Komeito provided an additional 14. This far outweighed a range of opposition parties, the largest of which took 17 seats.
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