Hyogo Governor Saito’s Refrain Under Third-Party Review

Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress entered Hyogo Prefecture to attend the memorial ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake on January 17. Welcoming them at Kobe Airport was Hyogo Prefecture Governor Motohiko Saito, who made headlines last year.

As time passed into the new year, public interest seemed to wane, and media coverage had slightly decreased. However, the first major “Bunshun exposé” of the new year struck.

While the document issue remained unresolved, Governor Saito, who was re-elected, was now facing new allegations of violating the Public Offices Election Act.

“I protest with my life.”

The issue in question is whether Saito’s camp hired a PR company to manage their social media during the previous gubernatorial election or if the female president of the PR company handled it voluntarily. However, evidence has now emerged. A LINE message proving that Saito’s campaign secretary-general requested the PR company to manage the social media was made public.

Although the Yomiuri Shimbun had reported on this matter late last year, this is the first time the LINE message itself has been disclosed.

The controversy began in March last year when a former prefectural bureau chief anonymously sent a whistleblower document titled “Regarding the Illegal Acts of Hyogo Prefecture Governor Motohiko Saito” to certain media outlets, the prefectural police, national legislators, and prefectural assembly members.

Governor Saito held a press conference, stating:

“Creating and distributing a document filled with complete fabrications during work hours just because of dissatisfaction is unworthy of a public servant.”

With these harsh words, the issue came to the forefront and began attracting public attention.

The former bureau chief also filed a public-interest whistleblower report. However, before the investigation results were released, the prefectural government imposed a three-month suspension as a disciplinary measure in May. In June, the prefectural assembly established a “Special Committee on the Document Issue (Article 100 Committee)” to uncover the truth. However, the former bureau chief, who had been scheduled for witness testimony, left behind the words:

“I protest with my life.”

Then, they took their own life, intensifying media coverage and escalating the incident into a major scandal.