Tohokushinsha Film and Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications scandal

The Tohokushinsha Film and Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications scandal was a major political scandal in Japan involving the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Deputy Minister Yoshihide Suga from 2012 to 2021, which led to the government's Abenomics financial policy.

Background

Minister Takaichi (2016, 2019)
Minister Noda (2017)
Minister Ishida (2018)
Minister Takeda (2020)

Article 75 of the Radio Act provides for the revocation of a radio station's license if foreign companies and individuals own more than 20% of a certain broadcasting company in Japan.

Tohokushinsha Film Corporation which operated the satellite channel as a major broadcaster, discovered the illegal status of its foreign shareholding in August 2017. By the end of the month, the situation had been reported to the head of the General Affairs Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), but the MIC has neither revocated Tohokushinsha's license nor requested the entity to take some actions to rectify the violation.^[1]^[2]

Investigation

Shinzo Abe

Yohishihide Suga

Masayoshi Shintani

Initial report

On 3 February, the Shukan Bunshun released its report and evidence photographs that cast doubt on the MIC officials not to have recalled the company on the contrary of being informed of a legal violation regarding foreign ownership of the broadcasting company, due to the illegal preferential treatment from its executives including Seigoh Suga, the son of Deputy Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.^[3]

Investigation committee by the party

On 12 February, Tohokushinsha set up an investigation committee to scrutinize the entertainment for officials by its own executives^[4] The committee eventually found that 13 MIC officials had been treated to lavish meals and wines on 54 occasions and that 20 times of those dinners were not listed in the reception reports published by the MIC from July 2016 until December 2020.

The internal inspection

On 24, the MIC dismissed the 13 officials including the Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination [ja]Yasuhiko Taniwaki [ja], the MIC and other additional officials.^[5] The Tohokushinsha's reception with its president contained Taxi-tickets, lavish food, and other gift souvenirs to go.

The second report and denials

On 3 March, the Shukan Bunshun revealed the similar entertainments by NTT to the MIC officials.^[6]

On the same day, House of Representatives Budget Committee summoned Taniwaki who then testified that the MIC did not violate the National Public Service Ethics Act.^[7]

The review committee of MIC

The MIC announced that it would set up a review committee of experts, to be chaired by the State Minister for the MIC Masayoshi Shintani, who was elected from Hiroshima, appointed to the State Minister by PM Suga and took office on 20 September 2020.

As a result, Shintani resigned from the role and the MIC reassembled the committee to exclude all MIC officials from its body.

The third report

However, The Sukan Bunshun Online on 10 March revealed that Shintani's secretary was receiving entertainment from the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) in November 2020, that Shintani and punished Vice-Minister Taniwaki were schoolmates at the private school Aikoku Gakuen [ja], and that Shintani himself was scheduled to have a dinner with Tohokushinsha in January 2021.^[8]^[9]^[10]

On 16 March, the House of Representatives Budget Committee summoned Tohokushinsha president Shinya Nakajima, NTT president Jun Sawada, MIC's director of the Global Strategy Bureau, and Taniwaki again. The MIC officials testified that they had not been informed of the violation by the company.^[11]

On 4 June, the MIC announced it had newly discovered that other executives had received a total of 78 entertainments from NTT or Tohokusinsha and punished 32 officials involved in the matter.^[12]

Laws

1950 to current Inheritance Tax Act has the tax exemption rules for political funds and the asset of religious institutions.
The draft of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) came out December 1998, before the 2001 Central Government Reform led by Yoshiro Mori Administration.
The Reform established the Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet, called "Fuku-sohri", the State Ministers of the Ministries ("Fuku-Daijin") and the Parliamentary Vice-Ministers ("Daijin-Seimukan"), all of which have no duty of disclosure of the assets of its spouse and children under the then newly established the Fundamental Cord for the Ministers, the Deputy Ministers, and the Parliamentary Vice-Ministers [ja] ("Kokumu-Daijin, Fuku-Daijin, oyobi Daijin-Seimukan Kihan").
Shinzo Abe administration accepted the UNTOC and United Nations Convention against Corruption in 2017. Both conventions remained unratified in 2023.
The National Personnel Authority was led by the Commissioner Naomi Ichimiya [ja], a former judge of the High Court and later a member of the Tokyo Bar Association's legal professions, who was appointed as the President by PM Abe in 2014 and served 2 terms of 8 years until 22 June 2021. ^[b] For a similar period a Keidanren high executive Hiroshi Tachibana [ja], also served as one of three Commissioners. ^[c]
Major newspapers in Japan frequently avoid reporting the names of foreign companies that own Japanese companies. ^[d]

Notes

^ "A government official or local government official must file an accusation when they believe an offense has been committed." (CCP 239.2.)
^ The leading political party would have the power either to promote or relegate officials if the NPA were disfigured and misconducted against the appealants on relegations or the whistleblowers conforming to their filing duty, article 239.2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.^[a]
^ Tachibana was replaced by Microsoft Japan high executive Katsura Ito [ja] in April 2022.
^ There are even few academic papers which reported on the 1600s Dutch East India Company which supported the Shogunate, the 1870s Walsh brothers in the Last days of the Shogunate, or the 1900s J & P Coats which operated the Teikoku Seishi sewing thread factory Japan.

References

^ The Asahi Shinbun, "Tohokushinsha report: Ministry told of illegal share ownership." May 25, 2021.
^ The Diamond Online [ja], Gen Yamazaki, "Soumu Kanryo ga NTT, Tohokushinsha o 'settai suru gawa' datta to kangaerareru nattoku no riyuu. (This could be a convincing reason that the MIC officials themselves intended to entertain the companies: Future promotions.)
^ The Shukan Bunshun, "Breaking photo - Suga shusho no chohnan, Soumusho kanbu wo ihoh settai." (The Illegal receptions to the MIC officials by the eldest son of PM Suga.) 2021-02-11.
^ Tohokushinsha Film Corporation "Tokubetsu Chohsa kai no setchi ni kansuru Oshirase" (About special investigation committee.) 2021-02-12.
^ Jiji Press, "Soumusho kanbura nana nin genkyu, settai uketa juuichi nin shobun, Takeda shi wa kakuryoh kyuhho hennoh Archived 6 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine (MIC gave seven senior officials regular pay cuts, dismissed eleven, Minister Takeda returned part of his cabinet salary.)
^ The Sukan bunshun"Hitori juh manen choh mo, NTT ga Yamada zen kohoukan to Taniwaki Soumu shingikan ni Kougaku settai.
^ NHK "Taniwaki Yasuhiko soumu shingikan ’Tsuhshin jigyohsha to Rinrihoh ni hansuru kaishoku nai'. 2021-03-03.
^ SPA! [ja] "Suga shusho no shuhen jinmyaku ni ooi Aiko Gakuen OB tachi, Taniwaki shi no kensho iinkai mo kohai ga tanto" (PM Suga fellows in the Investigating committee led by Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination Taniwaki.), 2021-03-09.
^ MIC "Takeda soumu daijin kakugi go kishakaiken no gaiyo" [Summary of MIC Minister Takeda's press conference], 2021-2-26.
^ Mainichi Shinbun "Takaichi Sanae shi to Noda Seiko shi, Soumusho zainin chu ni NTT gawa to kaishoku, Bunshun houdou (Former MIC Ministry Sanae Takaichi and Seiko Noda have been entertained by NTT, Bunshun reported.) 2021-03-10.
^ NHK "Settai mondai NTT to Tohokushinsha shacho ni shitugi shuuin yosani." 3-16-2021
^ Nikkei Shinbun "Soumu-sho settai mondai de sanjuh-ni nin shobun, arata ni nobe nana juh hak-ken hanmei." 2021-06-04.