Former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba Visits Home Prefecture, Gives Speeches Almost Every Week; He Reflects on His Tenure, Comments on Current Administration

By Naoya Nishiumi and Kazuha Kubota / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

15:52 JST, December 8, 2025

TOTTORI — Since leaving office in October, former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has been visiting his home prefecture, Tottori, almost every week, where he has been taking increasing opportunities to tell attendees about his unique experiences.

While looking back on his time in office, he sometimes offers mild comments on current Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration, including revealing his mixed feelings about the reversal of policies he was particularly passionate about.

On Nov. 22, during a national policy briefing in Tottori City, his first in the prefecture since leaving the premiership, Ishiba spoke for about an hour on the year he spent in office.

He emphasized the success of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo — which saw a total of more than 25.57 million visitors — saying, “Towards the end, it was so crowded that people couldn’t get in.”

He also revealed his first impression of the Expo’s official mascot, Myaku-Myaku, which he called “a weird thing” because “it had lots of eyes,” and because its coloration was so unlike real living things.

However, when he heard his two daughters, both in their 30s, tell him, “Myaku-Myaku is cute,” he changed his mind and thought, “Maybe it’ll work,” he said.

Ishiba has expressed regret over goals he was unable to reach during his term, particularly the establishment of a national disaster prevention agency, one of his signature policies.

“Given that Japan is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, we need to create the world’s best disaster prevention system. That was something I wanted to do when I was prime minister,” he said.

Prime Minister Takaichi has indicated that she plans to continue this policy, saying, “We will accelerate preparations for the agency to be established next year.”

In response to the rice shortage, Ishiba announced in August that Japan would review the government’s acreage reduction policy and shift to increasing rice production.

At a national policy briefing on Nov. 22, Ishiba said, “I don’t think I was wrong at all. I firmly believe that this was [beneficial] for food security and for the independence and peace of this country.”

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Norikazu Suzuki has pledged to change course to promote a “demand-based” approach, a decision which Ishiba has criticized. He has said that although one can’t tell how policies will change, governments shouldn’t just choose courses based on what will work at that particular moment.

On the same day, at a national policy briefing in Kurayoshi, Tottori Prefecture, he also mentioned the Liberal Democratic Party’s dissolution of its ruling coalition with Komeito, saying, “I don’t think it’s right at all.”

“When the LDP went too far, it was Komeito that said to us, ‘Wait a moment.’ We must not forget that they worked with us through difficult times,” he continued.