The Japanese government said Tuesday it will formally launch a social media account covering Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s activities following a month-long trial, amid concerns that she speaks to the press less than her predecessors.
The account on X is intended to communicate more “flexibly” through content, including candid photos from official engagements and updates from events not open to the press. It has also commented on news reports about the administration and posted messages to foreign dignitaries.
Regarding the account’s continuation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a regular press conference that the government believes it has proved to be a “meaningful new approach to public communications.”
When asked whether the account’s interactions with news articles could influence press coverage, he said it is “not intended to monitor media reporting.”
The account was rebranded Tuesday as the official account of the Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs, a post currently held by Kozo Saiki, who served as a speechwriter and executive secretary to the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The account has attracted around 110,000 followers since its May 1 launch.
Takaichi has a passionate online following, with some pundits crediting her social media savvy as a factor in the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide House of Representatives election victory in February.
Her official activities are also covered by an official X account for the Prime Minister’s Office, which has some 1.7 million followers.
© KYODO
