Complacency and arrogance hallmark of Abe's leadership

Hideo Onishi, a lawmaker from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has taken a lot of heat for his remark denigrating cancer patients. LDP lawmaker Junko Mihara had said passive smoking causes pain to employees with cancer during a party discussion on May 15 to regulate passive smoking in Japan's restaurants. In an apparent response, Onishi said cancer patients "do not have to work".

Drawing fire from lawmakers from the opposition as well as his own party, Onishi apologized several days later for "hurting the feelings" of cancer patients. Onishi is the latest in a long line of gaffe-prone Japanese politicians. Some have walked away scot-free by retracting and apologizing for their slips of the tongue.

Japan's Regional Revitalization Minister Kozo Yamamoto apologized after being criticized for calling curators in museums "the No 1 cancer" that needs to be "wiped out" at a seminar on April 16.