Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has faced a wave of online criticism after images emerged of her wearing jewelry worth 26 million yen (about 240 million won).
According to Japanese outlet Toyo Keizai Online on Friday, Takaichi attended the 37th Japan Jewelry Best Dresser Awards ceremony held in Tokyo on Tuesday, becoming the first sitting prime minister to receive a special award.
Wearing pearl and diamond jewelry that day, she said, "I will work hard so that people can feel Japan's future is as bright as the shine of jewelry."
The jewelry had been lent by a Japanese company through the organizers for the day of the ceremony only, and all of it was returned after the event. In other words, all Takaichi received was a certificate and a trophy.
However, once news of the award spread, reactions on social media (SNS) and in online news comment sections remained cold. The most-endorsed responses questioned the prime minister's "priorities."
One user criticized her, writing, "A prime minister who lets parliament stall and avoids the intensive deliberations needed to clear up allegations is beaming at a glamorous jewelry awards ceremony," adding, "This despairing inversion of priorities goes beyond unpleasant—it makes me nauseous." Another user mocked the Best Dresser award, saying, "The salary the prime minister receives is the people's tax money."
The criticism spread beyond the award itself to the overall management of state affairs. Analysts said accumulated grievances over rising prices and a weak yen erupted all at once through this incident. Comments poured in such as, "Eight months have passed since the administration launched, but Japan's future has grown darker," and, "By focusing only on legislation that neglects people's livelihoods, the real economy keeps cooling."
The outlet noted that these reactions were not simply a backlash against the jewelry itself, but the result of already-accumulated grievances bursting out all at once. It added a psychological interpretation that people tend to release their emotions onto a safer, alternative target when it is difficult to express dissatisfaction directly at its original cause. The award, it explained, served as a "lightning rod" that let pent-up public discontent discharge.
