The top bureaucrat of a supervisory ministry is found to have leaked information on administrative punishments to a former heavyweight official of that ministry. The case, inevitably suspected to involve collusion, is an unprecedented scandal.
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi has announced that her ministry disciplined its administrative vice minister, Shigeki Suzuki, with a three-month suspension from office, for having leaked information to Yasuo Suzuki, senior executive vice president of Japan Post Holdings Co. The top bureaucrat admitted the alleged misconduct and resigned as of Friday. He was effectively dismissed.
The former vice minister reportedly leaked information several times on the process in which the ministry studied administrative punishments against the Japan Post group in connection with the inappropriate conclusion of insurance policy contracts involving Japan Post Insurance Co. and Japan Post Co. The leak is an act that would distort administrative fairness, so it was natural that he faced a stern penalty.
Takaichi said that she had ordered an internal probe as suspicions arose that the contents of meetings held in the minister's room with a limited number of senior ministry officials in attendance had been leaked. As a result, the scandal came to light.
After resigning as the ministry's vice minister, Yasuo Suzuki assumed a vice presidential post with Japan Post Holdings in 2013, and he currently serves as its senior executive vice president. He came under fire after he filed a strong protest against NHK, which had reported the Japan Post insurance scandal earlier than other media.
The act of a supervisory government office exchanging information with private firms is not wrong per se. But it cannot be considered normal for information on administrative penalties to be leaked to specific companies in advance. Leakage of secrets should never be permitted even if there is senior-junior relationship involved.
In connection with the issue of Japan Post insurance, there are about 13,000 alleged cases of legal violations or breaches of in-house regulations. The internal affairs ministry, which supervises Japan Post Holdings and Japan Post, was considering issuing an order for improvement of operations on the grounds that the companies were lacking in supervision.
Takaichi told a news conference, "It is truly regrettable that the vice minister committed an act that badly undermined the credibility of public duties."
She had every reason to say, "If information is leaked point by point, there will arise a possibility of results such as companies under supervision changing their response." The internal affairs ministry should make efforts to optimize its information management, thereby regaining public trust in the ministry.
Former officials of the internal affairs ministry have landed executive posts not only at Japan Post Holdings, a holding company, but also at Japan Post, Japan Post Insurance and Japan Post Bank Co.
Saying that it is "not advisable for former ministry officials to assume executive posts at Japan Post group companies," Takaichi has expressed the idea of taking a stern approach in approving future appointments of executives. The minister likely regards the group's corporate governance as problematic.
Japan Post Holdings and the ministry need to rectify, in the first place, the bilateral relationship some regard as too cozy.
-- This article appeared in the print version of The Yomiuri Shimbun on Dec. 21, 2019.
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