TOKYO -- A commemorative photo of the new Japanese Cabinet is suspected to have been doctored to enhance its appearance before being posted on the prime minister's office website.

The image data contained traces of photo editing software. The Mainichi Shimbun asked the prime minister's office about the matter but has not received a response.

The Cabinet of new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was inaugurated on Oct. 1. A commemorative photo shoot took place at his office after the investiture ceremony for the prime minister and the certification ceremony for other ministers at the Imperial Palace. The Cabinet members wore formal attire, with men in morning coats and women in dresses or kimono. In the photo shoot, Ishiba was in the center of the front row, with Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Tetsuo Saito on the left, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi and Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Seiichiro Murakami on the right.

In photos taken and distributed by the Mainichi Shimbun and other media, white shirts were seen below a jacket button at the abdomens of Ishiba and Nakatani, and the prime minister was wearing a belt.

On X (formerly Twitter), there were a string of comments about the way they were dressed, with some calling them "disgraceful" and "disheveled." One X user even called them the "sloppy Cabinet."

On the other hand, in one of the photos posted by the prime minister's office on its website under "The Prime Minister in Action" section, Ishiba's and Nakatani's waists are higher and their trousers are longer. Ishiba's belt also cannot be seen. The photo data showed traces of software use.

With the spread of fake information that exploits rapidly evolving artificial intelligence, news organizations are emphasizing the importance of information reliability. The Mainichi has been distributing and publishing images with annotations when blurring them, out of consideration for privacy and other reasons.

(Japanese original by Digital News Group)