On the evening of February 3, 2023, Arai Masayoshi, a secretary to Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, spoke to reporters off the record. He said he would not even want to see same-sex couples, and that if same-sex marriage were allowed, some people would abandon Japan. The Mainichi Shimbun reported the remarks under his name. Kishida dismissed him the next day.
In July 2011, the minister for reconstruction, Matsumoto Ryū, berated the governor of Miyagi in front of cameras. Then he told the reporters: Kaitara, mō sono sha wa owari dakara. If you write this, that company is finished. A local broadcaster aired the scene, and he resigned on July 5.