The ruling Liberal Democratic Party came under fire for asking only two questions in a survey that is supposed to reveal details of a political fund scandal that have eluded even prosecutors.
Opposition parties seized on discriminatory comments that resulted in the sacking of a key aide to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and sparked fury in the LGBT community to attack the administration over its commitment to inclusiveness and diversity.
Government officials acknowledged that infrastructure ministry bureaucrats violated a law through their practice of inflating construction contract data but said law enforcement authorities should decide if anyone should be punished.