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.

 

Afterward, Governor Saito was ousted when the prefectural assembly unanimously passed a no-confidence resolution. However, he made a comeback in the re-election.

A key figure in this election was Takashi Tachibana, the leader of the NHK Party. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Saito won thanks to Tachibana’s efforts.

Tachibana consistently pushed the narrative of the former bureau chief’s affair to secure Saito’s victory. He claimed that the reason for the former bureau chief’s suicide was:

“Because they feared their infidelity would be exposed.”

This was seemingly an attempt to distance Saito from allegations of power harassment and any involvement in the situation. However, online, the phrase “10 affairs in 10 years” went viral.

As time passed, it became clear that the “10 affairs in 10 years” claim was completely false. However, what is now causing controversy is the evidence that Tachibana presented to support the alleged affair—the contents of the former bureau chief’s government-issued computer.

There is a high possibility that this constitutes an information leak. The individuals involved, including those who disclosed the computer’s contents, Tachibana himself, and those who shared the information online, are now under scrutiny.

There is a risk of violating Article 32 and Article 34 of the Local Public Service Act.

Since the contents of the government-issued computer, which is a Hyogo Prefecture-owned document, were leaked to the outside, it is undoubtedly considered an information leak. However, when Governor Saito was questioned during the prefectural government’s regular press conference about the handling of the person responsible for the leak and the removal of the information that was exposed online, his response was sluggish.

“When it was about me, I judged the whistleblower document to be a complete fabrication and not a public-interest whistleblower report. Without conducting a proper investigation, I immediately took action against the whistleblower.”

At the recent press conference, When asked by a reporter, 

“Where did the tip-off come from?”

He answered,

“From the person who gathered and released the information.”

This likely refers to Tachibana and his associates, but contradictions begin to emerge here.

“Some people say that since it’s a government-issued computer, there’s no problem with it being made public, but that’s not the case. These computers can contain personal information like staff address books, photos, and details about the public. It cannot be released publicly. Saito claims that the leaked information might be a public-interest whistleblower report, and that an investigation is necessary to verify the identity of the released information. However, if the information was fabricated, it wouldn’t have public interest, and if it were truly of public interest, it would undoubtedly not be a document owned by the prefecture.

If it’s something like that, it would be immediately apparent to the staff, and there would be no need for a third-party committee. Moreover, if it’s a document owned by the prefecture, it could violate Articles 32 and 34 of the Local Public Service Act. In other words, it would be an ‘illegal document’ leaked through unlawful actions. Governor Saito immediately took action to dismiss the whistleblower’s document when it was considered illegal. Why isn’t he doing the same now? It’s puzzling.” (Nationwide newspaper reporter)

Hyogo Prefecture announced on January 7 that it had established a third-party committee. However, it has not revealed any details about its members or the progress of the investigation. It seems that Saito is simply stalling, perhaps waiting for public interest to fade and for the issue to cool down.

Meanwhile, new evidence of a violation of the Public Offices Election Act has emerged. It seems that the Saito encirclement is tightening.