Shinjiro Koizumi Throws Fastball in Cabinet Office Basement as Former Chauffeur Reveals Hidden Faces of Famous Ministers

In the previous article “Reality of Grabbing Money Revealed with Cash Stuffed as Farewell Gifts and Unclear Uses of Government Confidential Funds,” Mr. Shoichi Ishikawa (a pseudonym), who worked as a chauffeur for ministers at the Cabinet Office, revealed that the Cabinet’s secret funds (officially known as the Cabinet Secretariat’s discretionary funds) were being used as “farewell gifts” for ministers heading on overseas trips.

Read the first part of the article, “Reality of Grabbing Money Revealed with Cash Stuffed as Farewell Gifts and Unclear Uses of Government Confidential Funds”.

According to Mr. Ishikawa, the following three individuals were avoided by chauffeurs who didn’t want to “take the wheel” for these politicians: Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (68), former Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura (61), and former House of Councillors Secretary-General Hiroshige Seko (61).

“For the heat-sensitive Mr. Motegi, there was always a cooler box placed behind the driver’s seat. The secretaries would prepare drinks for him every day. Even the drinks had specific instructions, such as ‘Evian’ for water and ‘Yunker’ for energy drinks. I’ve never heard of any other government officials being this particular, except for Mr. Motegi. Since he’s a smoker, he would get irritable if he couldn’t smoke. Naturally, he smoked inside the car as well. Although official vehicles are supposed to be non-smoking, no one could stop him, so cleaning the ashtray, air conditioning, and the car interior was quite a hassle.

Mr. Motegi loves massages and would go to a parlor whenever he had time. We would be left waiting in a narrow alley in Akasaka during this time, but I wish he would use the office car for such things. While we were just waiting in the car, the security personnel (SP) had to stand at the entrance of the parlor, checking for suspicious individuals. If it were for official duties, I would understand, but we were merely accommodating his hobby. And yet, I never saw Mr. Motegi give any kind of gratuity from his own pocket to the security personnel.”

Former Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura, who was suspended from LDP party membership due to a slush fund issue, was also said to have a strong work ethic.

Mr. Nishimura is smart, and he cannot tolerate secretaries and bureaucrats who do not understand him. I saw him yell at them many times as they rode in his car. Although he did not use violence, his reprimands in the Kansai dialect were quite strong.

However, they are very dedicated to their work and pay very well for overtime, which is good for drivers who want to earn money. There was a driver who worked overtime for 300 hours a month and earned 1.5 million yen. However, while waiting, you can take a short break, but you will lose sleep. My concern is that the driver’s judgment might be impaired, and that could be dangerous.”

On the other hand, Ishikawa named Masaaki Taira, 57, former vice minister of the Cabinet Office, as a politician he would like to hold the wheel.

He often gave me gifts of fruits such as cheinmascats and bananas because his family was a fruit vendor,” Ishikawa said. He would also tell us when to eat them and how to preserve them. It seems that he closed his family’s fruit shop about five years ago, and the closing was regretted by the drivers. Of course, we wouldn’t do that to anyone living in our district.”

There was an unusual sight in the underground parking lot of the government building where the Cabinet Office’s official cars are parked. Back in 2015, when Shinjiro Koizumi (43) was serving as Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet Office and Reconstruction, he was seen in the basement level 2 of the Central Government Building No. 8 wearing a dress shirt and a baseball glove.

“He had been asked to throw the first pitch for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars’ second team, so he was practicing by playing catch with his assigned driver. The driver, a former high school baseball player from Niigata, praised him, saying that Mr. Koizumi threw a good ball. There were many cars parked around, so I think he was throwing with caution, but if he had gone all out, he might have thrown a real fastball. They probably chose the underground parking lot due to space constraints and to avoid being seen by others.”

On the other hand, a strange sighting was made of former SPEED member and current House of Councillors member Eriko Imai (40).

“Imai-sensei doesn’t smoke in her official car or office, but she came to the parking lot on the basement floor of Building 8, where only official cars of the Cabinet Office are parked, in her Estima, the vehicle used by her office for pick-ups, opened the window, and was puffing away. At the Cabinet Office, smoking is only allowed in the smoking area on the first floor, but it seems she was concerned about being seen.”

Mr. Ishikawa, who has closely observed both the use of secret funds and the hidden sides of politicians, notes a common theme: both are difficult to reveal publicly.

In related articles, “Former Driver’s Decisive Confession: Government Confidential Funds Used as ‘Special Allowances’ for Cabinet Office Escort Staff!” and “New Political and Financial Issue Emerges: The ‘Appalling Reasons’ Government Confidential Funds, Sourced from Taxes, Flowed to Cabinet Office Driving Staff,” Mr. Ishikawa reveals the mysterious uses of secret funds.