Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's eldest son was present on 20 occasions, or more than half of the 38 times when executives of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry were wined and dined by the broadcasting company where he works, an investigation by the ministry revealed Monday.
The ministry officials involved who will be punished include executives who helped promote policies that Suga focuses on. This scandal has dealt a significant blow to the prime minister.
"I have three children, but I have never arranged jobs for them," the prime minister said while apologizing for the actions of his eldest son at a lower house Budget Committee meeting Monday. Suga stressed that he was not involved in his son's employment at Tohokushinsha Film Corp.
The prime minister's eldest son was hired by Tohokushinsha Film after serving as a secretary for Suga when he was the internal affairs and communications minister. In his remarks at the committee meeting on Monday, Suga said that although he had introduced the founder of the company, who was from his hometown in Akita Prefecture, to his eldest son, "my eldest son admired him [the founder] very much, and the two of them decided [on the son's hiring]."
Suga also said, "I remember I told [my eldest son] to keep a distance from the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry" when he joined Tohokushinsha Film.
Suga said he was "surprised" to learn that his eldest son had been having meals with ministry executives.
Tohokushinsha Film has broadcasting subsidiaries, including Star Channel Inc., a satellite broadcasting company specializing in movies, and Igo & Shogi Channel Inc. However, in recent years, the business environment has been difficult, due to the rise of rivals such as the Netflix movie distributing service. The company is believed to have been aiming to build a relationship with the ministry, which has the authority to license satellite channels, and to determine the latest trends in the industry.
Suga's eldest son is a general manager of Tohokushinsha Film and also serves as a board member of Igo & Shogi Channel Inc.
"The prime minister has tremendous influence in the [Internal Affairs and Communications] Ministry. He says his eldest son is 'a separate person,' but to be honest, it's hard for us to say no if his name comes up," a ministry executive said.
"The reality is that [Suga's] eldest son has become 'a person in charge of entertainment' to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. The prime minister has political responsibility," said a former Cabinet member who belongs to the ruling coalition.
In addition, many of the people who were wined and dined were former Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications officials with close ties to Suga. Yasuhiko Taniwaki, the top official in the posts and telecommunications field, has been in charge of the telecommunications industry for a long time and played a central role in the Suga Cabinet's signature policy of lowering mobile phone rates. He is well liked by Suga and had been considered as the "next administrative vice minister" within the ministry.
Others who were entertained by Tohokushinsha Film include a person in charge of designing a system to lower the "receiving fee" that households with a TV have to pay to the NHK public broadcaster, another signature policy of Suga's.
"If all these executives are taken off the front lines, there will be inevitable delays in the implementation of policies," a government source said with concern.
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