Japan's newly minted defense minister, Minoru Kihara, is already in hot water after just a month on the job.
This past weekend, Kihara was in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture to deliver a stump speech for this Sunday's parliamentary by-election.
Given that he was also visiting the Sasebo-based Maritime Self-Defense Forces, Kihara wore a military-style windbreaker and ball cap while urging the audience to vote for the Liberal Democratic Party candidate, stating, “Supporting the LDP candidate will repay the efforts of the Self-Defense Forces and their families.”