Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is facing a wave of online criticism after her government's official account posted a piano-scored video recap of her visit to Kumamoto Prefecture, the region struck by a deadly 7.1-magnitude earthquake on 28 July. Critics on social media have labelled the clip a 'PR piece,' raising uncomfortable questions about the optics of disaster communication at a time when the death toll has climbed to 38.

What the Video Shows

Set to a piano soundtrack, the clip documents Takaichi's Monday visit to quake-affected areas in southwestern Japan. It includes footage of the prime minister conducting an aerial survey of damaged zones by helicopter, meeting displaced residents, and inspecting an evacuation centre in the town of Hikawa, where she arrived wearing a disaster response uniform.

The video also captures her aerial view of the Aeon shopping mall in the town of Kashima, where an explosion following the quake killed seven people, and the paper plant in Yatsushiro, where nine people died. Aerial footage from public broadcaster NHK, captured on 28 July, had already shown severe structural damage — peeled exterior walls exposing steel framework, a partially collapsed roof, and a large hole visible on the rooftop.

The Online Backlash

The video drew sharp reactions on social media platform X. One user described the post — published on the Prime Minister's Office's official account — as 'government PR,' while another accused the Takaichi administration of 'using a disaster for political gain,' according to local media reports. The criticism centred on the perceived incongruity between a polished, music-backed production and the raw grief of earthquake survivors.

Government's Defence

At a regular press conference on Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara pushed back against the criticism, calling the video 'a concise summary' of the prime minister's inspection. On the choice of background piano music, Kihara said it was 'a way of presenting the prime minister's inspection of the damage in a manner that is easy to understand.' Takaichi herself, during the visit, told affected residents: 'The government will do everything that it can do.'

Broader Political Context

The controversy arrives at a difficult moment for Takaichi. Recent opinion polls indicate a steady decline in her Cabinet's approval ratings, and the optics of a cinematic disaster video risk compounding that slide. This is not an isolated pattern — governments across the world have faced similar criticism when disaster-response communication is perceived as image management rather than accountability. Notably, the Kumamoto region has a painful history with major seismic events, having suffered a devastating earthquake in 2016 as well.

With the death toll at 38 and recovery operations ongoing, the debate over the video signals a deeper tension between political communication and the public expectation of sober, unmediated crisis leadership.