Hyogo Prefecture, It’s Not Right] “Severe Strain” and “Unusual Stress” Created by Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito’s Transformation

The first part of the article titled “Limitations in Protecting Governor Saito Amidst Resignations of Close Aides” covered the unusual situation where close aides of Governor Motohiko Saito of Hyogo Prefecture have been repeatedly reporting health issues. The confusion in the prefectural administration shows no signs of subsiding.

Various allegations against Governor Motohiko Saito (46) have been exposed through accusations from prefectural employees, leading to a major upheaval in Hyogo Prefecture. The governor maintains a firm stance, stating, “My way of taking responsibility is to push forward with the prefectural administration with all my might.” With the core executives who supported the administration leaving, the remaining staff are exhausted, dealing with leftover tasks and complaints.

The biggest issue is not the governor’s “requesting behavior” or “power harassment suspicions” exposed in the accusation documents, but the fact that employees have taken their own lives and the prefectural administration has stagnated due to the governor’s and prefecture’s response. What is the current state of the prefectural administration? We will examine this through various testimonies.

What staff face daily are the persistent protest and complaint calls about the governor. The calls are handled by the Public Relations and Hearing Division, but there are reports of more than 200 calls a day. A prefectural official says, “The volume is so overwhelming that other departments sometimes assist in handling them.”

“Almost every day, the phone rings non-stop from morning till night. A third of these calls are requests to ‘Put Governor Saito on the line.’ The staff are lamenting that the stress is driving them ‘crazy.’ There are also many calls asking to connect to the ‘Ishin no Kai’ who opposed the Hundred Committee. Since the Public Relations and Hearing Division cannot handle these, the Parliamentary Affairs Office takes them, and Hyogo Ishin executives sometimes respond in the faction’s meeting room. Most of the content is questions like ‘Why doesn’t Governor Saito resign?’”

Governor Saito promotes himself as a “reformist” and boasted to various newspapers last year saying, “I started or achieved more than 90% of the promises made in the gubernatorial election.” Although he has an image of being well-versed in policy due to his background of graduating from the University of Tokyo and joining the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, there are doubts within the prefecture.

“Governor Saito claimed to have achieved or started 171 out of 173 promises, but he has removed the promise list from his own website, so no one can verify if these promises were truly fulfilled. It has become a situation where the claim itself counts. There have been past instances where promises like ‘doubling the number of severe illness beds’ and ‘allowing vaccination for all vaccines at medical institutions’ during the COVID-19 pandemic were quickly abandoned. This tendency to cover up has attracted criticism,” said a prefectural employee.

The flagship policies such as the “restructuring and relocation plan for the prefectural office” and “reducing the attendance rate to 40% through remote work” have been unpopular among staff, with notable backlash. Policies aimed at youth and Generation Z, including the governor’s initiative for tuition-free education at the prefectural university, have also seen key personnel, Koichi Kobashi, the director in charge, and Tomoaki Inomoto, the General Affairs Department head, leave their posts.

“Replacing the two executives, Deputy Governor Yohei Hattori, who has a technical background, has been handling the explanations. With key policies stagnating, the governor’s dismissive attitude, saying ‘There are people to take over, so it’s not a problem,’ only seems to mock the staff and residents. In the first place, Hyogo Prefecture faces serious issues such as population decline, and there are voices suggesting ‘different priorities,’” said a committee participant.

The prefectural administration remains chaotic, with municipalities within the prefecture also questioning its credibility. Takaaki Sakai, the mayor of Tamba-Sasayama and president of the Hyogo Prefecture Mayor’s Association, held an emergency press conference, stating, “The prefectural administration plays a crucial role in large-scale urban development that cities cannot handle, and it requires the governor’s leadership.” There is also harsh criticism from the local business community. A representative of a company in Kobe city said,

“Young people’s employment rate in local companies has been decreasing year by year, and the outflow of talent to other regions continues unabated. Although manufacturing is a core industry in Hyogo, the governor is focusing on attracting startup and IT companies, with no significant results. The local business community has not been pleased with the governor’s ‘love for new things,’ and doubts have been raised since his first year in office.”

Yomiuri Shimbun reported that in this fiscal year’s general prefectural recruitment exam, there were 262 candidates who declined to take the written exam, with a resignation rate reaching 40%. The previously mentioned prefectural official lamented:

“The biggest concern right now is the budget preparation. There is a growing number of staff who ‘cannot accept’ the governor making budget decisions. This trend is especially strong among managerial positions. With major executives leaving and working under a governor whose future is uncertain, it is understandable that staff are anxious about the future of the prefectural administration. Even among younger employees, there are growing voices saying ‘The prefectural administration will not progress unless the governor resigns,’ signaling a critical situation.”

When Governor Saito first took office, he highlighted on his SNS that children were expressing the sentiment “Hyogo Prefecture is embarrassing.” He wrote passionately, “I will definitely change this situation.”

Ironically, Hyogo Prefecture has changed. However, it is the staff who support the prefecture who are experiencing the most “embarrassment.” How does the governor perceive this?