和装議連が着物で登院

　通常国会が召集された２０日、超党派の「和装振興議員連盟」のメンバーが着物姿で登院した。森雅子法相、立憲民主党の福山哲郎幹事長らが国会正面玄関前で恒例の記念撮影を行った。
　国会では、主要野党がカジノを含む統合型リゾート（ＩＲ）に絡む汚職事件、安倍晋三首相主催の「桜を見る会」の問題などを追及する構え。激しい論戦が見込まれるが、議連会長を務める自民党の伊吹文明元衆院議長は「『和』をもって国会と政治を運営しなくちゃいけない」と記者団に語った。
　この後の衆院本会議では、議連の西村康稔経済財政担当相が和装で経済演説を行った。（2020/01/20-16:07）

Members of a suprapartisan group of lawmakers promoting kimono showed up at the Diet, Japan's parliament, dressed in the traditional Japanese clothing, on Monday, when this year's 150-day regular Diet session started.
   The lawmakers, including Justice Minister Masako Mori, who is a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and Tetsuro Fukuyama, secretary-general of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, gathered in front of the main entrance to the Diet building for commemorative photos.
   Heated debate is expected during the session, with the opposition camp poised to grill the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over, among others, a high-profile scandal in which an incumbent lawmaker has been arrested for allegedly accepting bribes from a Chinese company that was planning to join a casino-featuring integrated resort in Japan, as well as controversial state-funded annual cherry blossom-viewing parties hosted by the prime minister.
   "We need to manage the Diet and politics with 'wa'," veteran LDP lawmaker Bunmei Ibuki, head of the suprapartisan group and former speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, told reporters, using the Japanese word meaning harmony.
   At the day's Lower House plenary meeting, Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, a member of the suprapartisan group, made an economic policy speech in kimono.