In recent days many political opponents of Prime Minister Takaichi have been arguing that she committed fraud by referring to herself as a congressional researcher.
Their misinterpretation of English language documents and articles is quite surprising. They point to sources that refer to her as an "intern" - which doesn't carry the same meaning in DC as it does in Japan. It would be quite common for congressional staffers to refer to any kind of temporary worker, including fellows, as "interns."
Most of the sources they cite contain information about Takaichi engaging in serious research as part of her job. Before seeing some of these sources, I had some doubts about whether she actually did very much research, but witnesses describe her as conducting research and writing reports.
The fact that she wasn't directly paid by the US Congress is also in line with ethical standards. The Matsushita Institute funded her, which is appropriate for congressional fellowships.
As an American, I don't really see a major ethical problem with Takaichi telling people in Japan that she was a "legislative researcher for the U.S. Congress." I doubt many Japanese people in the 1990s would have understood the job duties of a congressional fellow, so she created a Japanese language job title that explained the content of the work. It wasn't an era when you could just use Google and read an article about the meaning of "Congressional Fellow."
Her lack of English fluency today is also no evidence that she didn't have better English ability back in the late 1980s. It's been nearly 40 years since her fellowship and she hasn't been using English on a daily basis.
My followers are probably aware that I have criticized Takaichi on a variety of issues. However the numerous viral posts obsessing over her time in Washington and trying to depict her as a massive fraud are ridiculous, and quite frankly embarrassing to read.
While her opponents focus on this very minor issue, Takaichi is busy scoring legislative victories in the Diet. Wouldn't it make more sense for the opposition to organize around important issues that impact the livelihood of the Japanese people?