Even within his own party, faith in Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's leadership has been shaken following Friday's replacement of a Cabinet minister over a gaffe on the death penalty, because Kishida initially failed to take such action even the day after the remarks.
Kishida replaced Yasuhiro Hanashi as justice minister for his controversial remarks appearing to make light of his duties related to executions of death-row inmates, in an effort to minimize the issue's negative impact on Diet deliberations as much as possible, among other reasons.
