Japan Press Weekly

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2014 March 19 - 25 [POLITICS]

Abe on popular TV program tries to divert public eye

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on March 21 appeared on a long-running hit TV show hosted by a popular emcee on the Fuji TV network, amid diminishing public support due to a string of bad policies.

About 300 people outside the on-air studio were protesting against the Abe government squeezing the general public by imposing a heavier tax rate on them in April and by oppressing the people’s right to have access to information.

Abe has dinner frequently with Fuji TV President Hieda Hisashi, arousing criticism that the prime minister overtly uses the media as a propaganda tool.

Regarding the fact that the government intends to change labor legislation for the worse, a 40-year-old protester said, “Smiling at everyone on the show, he is trying to divert public attention from his maladministration.”

A 45-year-old man said, “Since Abe became prime minister, Japan has moved further to the right. I can’t stand his insistence on resuming the operations of offline nuclear reactors.”