She briefly served as Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry during the Abe government, but was forced to resign.

This made her Japan's youngest cabinet member in the post-war era.

[5][3] Obuchi resigned from her position as the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry on October 19, 2014, amid allegations of misuse of political contributions.

[7] An investigation committee found in October 2015 that Obuchi had no legal responsibility for the scandal, as the false entries had been made by two of her aides without her knowledge.

[1] Her husband, Kazuaki Setoguchi, joined TBS at the same time as Obuchi in 1996.