Hyogo governor slapped with criminal complaint over information leak
A criminal complaint was filed Tuesday against Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito and two others over the leak of private information relating to a whistleblower in the prefecture.
Kobe Gakuin University professor Hiroshi Kamiwaki filed the complaint with the Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office, alleging violations of the confidentiality duty under the local public service law. The complaint also targeted former Vice Gov. Yasutaka Katayama and Chiaki Inomoto, former head of the prefecture's general affairs department.
According to the complaint, Inomoto showed three prefectural assembly members in April 2024 a printed copy of the private information, which had been stored on a computer for official use. The information was regarding a former senior prefectural government official who wrote and distributed a document alleging harassment by Saito, and who died in an apparent suicide July that year.
Saito instructed Inomoto to inform the assembly members of the private information, while Katayama approved the leak after hearing from Inomoto about Saito's order, according to the complaint.
A third-party investigative committee set up by the prefecture said in a report May 27 this year that Inomoto leaked the private information, likely at the instruction of Saito and Katayama.
The committee found that there is a "certain persuasiveness" to the assembly member side's belief that the leak was likely aimed at weakening the credibility of the harassment allegation by casting doubt on the whistleblower's character.
Saito has denied his involvement, saying he never ordered the leak. He said the prefecture will not seek criminal charges over the matter.
The governor is subject to a separate criminal complaint, which alleges that he paid a public relations company for campaigning activities in the Hyogo gubernatorial election last November. Prefectural police and Kobe prosecutors raided sites linked to the company in February this year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
4 hours ago
- Japan Times
Upper House begins discussions on gasoline tax bill
The Upper House began discussions on an opposition-sponsored gasoline tax cut bill on Saturday, a day before the ordinary session of parliament ends Sunday. The opposition camp is demanding that the bill be put to a vote in the Upper House Committee on Financial Affairs and then in the full chamber by the end of Saturday, with an eye on the upcoming Upper House election, expected to take place on July 20. However, Junichi Ishii, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's parliamentary affairs chief in the Upper House, told Yoshitaka Saito, his counterpart from the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, at a meeting Saturday that the bill does not deserve a vote. The bill to abolish the provisional gasoline tax rate, effective July 1, was jointly submitted by the CDP and six other opposition parties earlier this month. On Friday, it passed the Lower House, where the LDP-Komeito coalition lacks a majority. There is little chance that the bill will pass the Upper House, where the ruling coalition holds a majority.
Nikkei Asia
5 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
US wants Asian allies to spend 5% of GDP on defense, Pentagon says
The USS George Washington is seen during a trilateral exercise between the U.S., Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea in November 2024. © Reuters KEN MORIYASU and RINTARO TOBITA WASHINGTON -- America's allies in Asia should follow Europe and spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense, a Pentagon spokesperson said Friday. This marks the first time in President Donald Trump's second term that the administration has laid out a regionwide target for the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Japan Times
Japan scraps ‘two-plus-two' meeting with U.S. over defense spending demand, report says
Japan has canceled a high-level meeting with the U.S. set for July following a demand that Tokyo spend even more on defense, according to a media report. Tokyo abruptly scrapped annual 'two-plus-two' security talks involving the allies' top diplomats and defense chiefs less than two weeks before the meeting after the U.S. asked Japan to hike its defense budget to 3.5% of gross domestic product, the Financial Times reported Friday, citing unidentified sources. Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya had been scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington on July 1 for the talks. Asked about the report at a news conference Friday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.S. had 'no comment on that at this point.' The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The report said that the U.S. had initially asked Japan to spend 3% of GDP on defense, though Pentagon officials told The Japan Times earlier that it had set a 'global standard' for Tokyo and other U.S. allies to spend 5% of GDP on defense, in the first official confirmation that Washington is asking Tokyo to pump up its defense budget even further. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear, though the Pentagon has been gripped by upheaval, including high-level dismissals and scandals in recent months under Hegseth. The Financial Times said the new, higher demand was made in recent weeks by Elbridge Colby, the Defense Department's No. 3 official, sparking anger in Tokyo. Colby said during his confirmation hearing in March that Japan 'should be spending at least 3% of GDP on defense as soon as possible,' citing the growing military threat from China and North Korea. Ostensibly pacifist Japan has in recent years undertaken a dramatic transformation of its security policy, including a five-year plan to ramp up defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2027. But pouring even more cash into defense coffers would come with significant political costs as the government focuses on domestic economic priorities and amid growing uncertainty over how to secure funds. Japan is currently getting far less bang for its buck as inflation and the yen's diminishing value erode its plans for the country's largest military buildup since World War II. The Financial Times report, citing a senior Japanese official, said the decision to cancel the meeting was also related to the July 20 Upper House election in which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to lose seats. In a statement given to The Japan Times on Friday, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell pointed to a majority of NATO nations that have signed on to U.S. requests to boost defense spending to the 5% level, saying that 'European allies are now setting the global standard for our alliances, especially in Asia, which is 5% of GDP spending on defense.' Asked whether Parnell's remarks apply specifically to Japan, a U.S. defense official said it 'is inclusive for all of our allies across the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan.' Nakatani said in April that defense spending was within striking distance of the 2% target, at 1.8% of GDP. A Defense Ministry panel of experts, meanwhile, is reportedly set to recommend that the government consider hiking defense spending beyond 2%, and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said that future budgets "may top 2%, if needed,' depending on the security environment. Ishiba and senior Japanese officials, however, have said that Japan will not be told how much to spend, reiterating that what is most important is the substance of strengthened defense capabilities — not arbitrary figures. The issue of defense spending among U.S. allies and partners will be at the top of the agenda at next week's NATO leaders' summit in The Hague, which Ishiba is also set to attend. Tensions over security issues and trade have grown since Trump took office, with the U.S. president railing against his county's alliance with Japan, calling the partnership — which turns 65 this year — unfair and 'one-sided,' while threatening Tokyo and other allies and partners with onerous tariffs on key sectors such as automobiles and steel.
