TOKYO - Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has come under online criticism after a music-backed video of her visit to an area of southwestern Japan hit by a deadly earthquake was labeled a "PR piece" by some social media users.
The video, set to piano music and recapping Takaichi's Monday visit to Kumamoto Prefecture, where a magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck on July 28, shows her flying over disaster-hit areas in a helicopter, meeting residents and inspecting an evacuation center.
One user wrote on X that the video posted by the Prime Minister's Office's official account was "government PR," while another accused the Takaichi administration of "using a disaster for political gain."
Speaking at a regular press conference Wednesday, top government spokesperson Minoru Kihara described the video as "a concise summary" of the visit. Asked about the piano music, he said it was "a way of presenting the prime minister's inspection of the damage in a manner that is easy to understand."
The backlash over the video's production comes as the honeymoon period for the prime minister, who took office in October last year, appears to be waning. Recent media polls show her Cabinet's approval ratings trending downward.
In addition to criticizing the video, some social media users claimed Takaichi spent only three minutes at the evacuation center. Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs Kozo Saiki strongly denied the claim, writing on X that she had been there for 51 minutes.
