Bob's Bullets - Kishida's son certain to return despite recent ouster

(Follow up to the recent podcast with apologies for the technical difficulties)

TOKYO — Don’t feel sorry for Shotaro Kishida, the son of Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Shotaro was recently relieved of his duties as ‘executive secretary’ to his father after photos surfaced on the Internet of Shotaro and friends partying at the official Prime Minister’s residence, and among other things, reclining on the main stairway in a manner some observers found disrespectful. The son’s behavior was regarded as highly inappropriate by opposition leaders in Parliament and even the members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party including the Chief Cabinet Secretary.

He will most assuredly be back on the scene, no doubt as a member of the House of Representatives.

Politics runs in the family. His grandfather and great grandfather were elected to the Diet from the family’s hometown of Hiroshima, and young Shotaro, as the eldest son, was destined to follow in their footsteps. He attended elite Keio University, put in a stint at the prestigious Mitsui Trading company, and then assumed a position on his father’s staff because of his “personality” and “insight” into politics, as Fumio put it.