In a recent statement during the upper house meeting, Prime Minister Sanae Takagi clarified her office's gift distribution practice to all party-affiliated members who were elected in the recent House of Representatives election. She maintains that this action does not violate any laws, and also declared that she does not expect any returns to be made for the gifts, which were around 30,000 yen each per member, totaling approximately 10 million yen. Her office attributes the funding of these gifts to political funds from her electoral branch in Nara Prefecture, dismissing any claims of legal wrongdoing.

The distribution of the gifts has attracted criticism from the opposition, particularly from the Constitutional Democratic Party's Yoshitaka Saito, who pointed out the irony of gifts labeled "With Congratulations from Sanae Takagi" and questioned the legality of the funding source. He suggested there was a contradiction in Takagi's defense that funding came from the party branch instead of her personal funds, raising concerns about the optics and ethical implications of such gifts being given to lawmakers, including ministers.

In response to inquiries about whether she would ask ministers to return the gifts received, Takagi reiterated that her actions did not violate Japan's political fund regulations. She expressed that she does not intend to ask for any returns, reiterating that the nature of these gifts should be seen as part of the branch's activities rather than personal gifts, as they are recorded in the political funding reports.