When lawmaker Yoko Kamikawa joined the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in September as justice minister, replacing her fellow Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Masako Mori, she took up the challenge of restoring public trust in the justice system.
Kamikawa took over control of governance tainted by the escape of former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn from house arrest, a gambling scandal involving a former top prosecutor and the indictment of Mori’s predecessor, Katsuyuki Kawai, for violating election laws by buying votes for his lawmaker wife, recently convicted on related charges, during her election campaign in 2019 for a seat in the Upper House.
But Kamikawa also faces scrutiny for the ministry’s handling of tightened border controls imposed in response to the spread of COVID-19, which continues to stir anxiety among the nation’s non-Japanese communities.