Finally submits his resignation! The “Surprising Face and Reputation” of Minoru Terada, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications

Minoru Terada, 64, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who has been making headlines in Nagata-cho over the issue of “politics and money,” has submitted his resignation.

Since Terada first joined the Cabinet in August of this year, a series of “politics and money” issues have surfaced. In addition to allegations that a loan of 6 million yen made by Mr. Terada to a related political organization was not recorded in a political fund balance report, there were also suspicions that he may have engaged in campaign bribes in violation of the Public Election Law during last year’s lower house election. The local Minoru Terada Takehara Supporters’ Association (Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture) submitted a report naming the deceased as its treasurer, and the handwriting on 11 receipts addressed to “Minoru Terada” received by related political organizations closely resembled that of the deceased, which the media reported as “unnatural.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, where Terada served as a cabinet minister, is in charge of the Political Funds Control Law. Opposition parties have said , “ This is too sloppy and unbelievable. It is impossible,” said Katsuya Okada, secretary general of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. How many times will he be out before he leaves?” ( Keiji Kuroda, chairman of the Communist Party’s National Opposition Committee). Mr. Terada has brushed it off , saying, “I am fulfilling my maximum accountability. However, the continuing reports of the allegations have forced Prime Minister Kishida to decide whether or not to “fire” Terada.

What kind of person is Mr. Terada? He is almost universally described as “unassuming and unobtrusive. Although he was a near-unknown figure nationwide, his background is the exact opposite of the series of ugly stories that have been circulating about him. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, he entered the Ministry of Finance (now the Ministry of Finance), which was regarded as a top government agency, and earned a master’s degree from Harvard University in the United States. He is a “super elite” who served as chief of the Nagahama Tax Office in Shiga Prefecture when he was still in his twenties. His wife’s grandfather is the late former Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda, and he belongs to the Koikekai (Kishida Faction), the faction led by Prime Minister Kishida. She is also from Hiroshima Prefecture, the same prefecture as Prime Minister Kishida.

This career may have strengthened his sense of “electorate. A bureaucrat who worked for him said, “He usually has a high-handed attitude. I was afraid to deal with him because he would get angry when I made a report or something. Another said, “He was very particular about the details of documents and reports on laws and regulations, administration, and the operation of the Diet. Even if other people approve of it, Mr. Terada will not accept it unless he is satisfied with it. He has a reputation for having a hard time laying the groundwork. He must take great pride in the fact that he is the one who is well versed in national politics,” said a source close to the ruling party. Some government sources report, “He is asked to explain even relatively unimportant matters, such as how he uses his time between jobs, using logic.