Neither the pursuit of power harassment nor the filing of criminal charges has had any impact…Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito “Will Not Resign” No Matter How Much Headwind Blows

Why he can afford to do so no matter how the headwinds blow

The Hyakujo Committee was established last June to investigate the document accusing Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito (47) of power harassment and other allegations. The contents of the committee’s investigation report have come to light. A reporter from a media outlet in Osaka explains.

The report also points out that the identification of the staff member who prepared the document is “highly likely to be in violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act.

They say that Governor Saito’s words and actions are likely to be publicly pointed out as being similar to power harassment. Last December, he and the president of a PR firm that allegedly supported his runoff election were criminally charged with violating the Public Offices Election Law, and the following month, Hideaki Takeuchi, a former prefectural assembly member who served on the Article 100 Committee, committed suicide. The following month, Hideaki Takeuchi, a former prefectural assembly member who was a member of the Hyakujo Committee, committed suicide. This brings the total number of deaths among prefectural officials to three, but no matter how much headwinds blow, it is believed that Governor Saito will not resign.

A prefectural assembly member who serves on the Article 100 Committee laments, “We will have a report by the end of March.

If the report is completed by the end of March, the period between the next assembly and June will be a climax for the governor,” he lamented. A man of ordinary nerve would quit, but Governor Saito dismissed the PR firm on the criminal charges, saying, ‘There is no fact that I entrusted them with overall public relations. When pressed about his responsibility for the death of Takeuchi, he simply expressed his condolences without changing his expression. Although the Commission will investigate the allegations, it does not have the power to force the governor to resign. Many prefectural assembly members are frightened of being slandered by the governor’s supporters, and it would be difficult to force another vote of no confidence in the governor. It is hard to imagine him resigning without a fight.

He will stay on as governor and simply wait for the headwinds to abate. Is this the kind of leader the people of Hyogo Prefecture have been looking for?

From the March 14-21, 2025 issue of FRIDAY