[2] He became known as a frequent guest on political talk shows in Japan, particularly the popular TV Tackle program hosted by Takeshi Kitano.

[3] While continuing his writing and consulting on foreign affairs, Masuzoe relocated from Tokyo to Kitakyushu in the 1990s to take care of his aging mother, who began to show signs of deteriorating mental health.

The book sold 100,000 copies, more than any of his previous political works, and propelled Masuzoe into the national spotlight as an authority on the aging society in Japan.

[4] Masuzoe ran for Governor of Tokyo in the 1999 election, placing third among nineteen candidates (behind Shintaro Ishihara and Kunio Hatoyama).

After his victory in 2001, Masuzoe duly formed the LDP BoJ Law Reform Group and appointed Professor Werner as its advisor.

[10] As MHLW minister, Masuzoe was the first Japanese government official to set forth a timetable for the settlement of lawsuits against the state for hepatitis C infections caused by tainted blood transfusions, and started an internal investigation regarding the ministry's previous responses to the issue.

[13] By early 2010, Masuzoe had become an extremely popular political figure, with opinion polls suggesting that he was the public's most favored prime ministerial candidate by a wide margin.

[19] He continued to be critical of the DPJ administration under Naoto Kan in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, saying that "the government has failed to disclose information thoroughly and, secondly, it has created a confusing array of committees and organizations".

[17] In a September 2012 column, Masuzoe was critical of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's "succession of failures on both the domestic and foreign policy fronts", and was also critical of incoming LDP president Shinzō Abe, writing: "Wariness of Abe on the Korean and Chinese sides would make an improvement in relations increasingly difficult.

If he shows an excessively right-wing bent when dealing with reform to the Constitution, he will no longer be able to garner support from the majority of the Japanese people.

From March 2016, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly received a total of 610 telephone calls of complaint regarding Masuzoe's alleged extravagant spending.

Then in May of that year, the Shukan Bunshun weekly news magazine reported on issues regarding public figures' official automobile travel expenses and the use of political funds for family trips.

Masuzoe held a press conference that month to apologize for having declared over ¥370,000 spent on dining with his family at restaurants in 2013 and 2014 as "meeting-related" expenses covered by political funds.

Among these were hotel expenses, family vacation trips, artwork, comic books as well as the use of government vehicle to travel to his holiday home located in Yugawara, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Following the findings of the report and Masuzoe's admission, public discontent continued to rise in the first half of June 2016, with at least 70 per cent of Tokyo residents seeking his resignation.

[38] On the afternoon of 15 June 2016, a no-confidence motion jointly submitted by all parties, including the LDP and Komeito, was to be voted upon in the Metropolitan Assembly.

[38] In a 1996 Shokun article cited by SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima, Masuzoe argued that nuclear power is a fundamental component of national energy and defense policy and should not be influenced by local concerns: he asked "if 30,000 local residents can reject a national policy in a referendum, where and how are the other 125 million Japanese citizens supposed to manifest their own intentions?

Shiomura was calling for more government assistance for women seeking to have children when she was met with heckles such as "You are the one who must get married as soon as possible" and "Can't you even bear a child?