Photo/Illutration Masako Akagi shows photos of her late husband, Toshio, in an interview. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The government plans to admit to the existence of a file compiled by a Finance Ministry official who killed himself after being ordered to falsify data. But whether the contents of the document are released in a lawsuit filed by his widow is another matter.

Masako Akagi, 50, whose husband, Toshio, committed suicide in March 2018, is seeking a total of about 112 million yen ($1 million) in compensation from the central government and Nobuhisa Sagawa, who was director-general of the Finance Ministry’s Financial Bureau when the falsification orders were given.

Masako asked the Osaka District Court in February to order the central government to disclose a file her husband compiled that supposedly includes who gave the actual instructions to falsify the public documents related to a dodgy sale of state-owned land.

The court instructed the central government to respond in writing about the existence of the file by May 6. Sources said the government was set to submit a document to the court, admitting the so-called Akagi file existed.

In past court proceedings, the central government did not touch upon whether the file actually existed, arguing it had nothing to do with the lawsuit.

The plaintiff, however, argued that disclosure of the document would show the course of orders that led Toshio to falsify the public documents and provide evidence about the psychological stress he suffered as a result of the orders.

The plaintiff, central government and court are expected to enter negotiations over what parts of the document to disclose and the manner of the disclosure.

Under the Civil Procedure Law, documents can be submitted with sections removed if disclosure will severely hinder the carrying out of administrative work.

Opposition lawmakers have pressed the government to explain why Moritomo Gakuen, a private school operator, received a huge discount in the sale of state-owned land in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture.

Those lawmakers contend the close relationship between the former head of Moritomo Gakuen and Akie Abe, the wife of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was behind the favorable deal.

Toshio was instructed to falsify documents related to negotiations for the land between the Kinki Local Finance Bureau and Moritomo Gakuen.

An in-house investigation report released in June 2018 by the Finance Ministry acknowledged that falsifications occurred, but it did not go into detail about who gave the actual orders and how those orders were carried out.

When Masako filed the lawsuit in March 2020, she also released personal notes left by her husband that squarely blamed Sagawa for the orders.

The ministry investigation report also said nothing about the Akagi file so it is unclear if it was looked at in the course of the investigation.

In October 2020, an audio recording was submitted to the court in which Toshio’s former superior at the local bureau was heard saying the Akagi file existed.

The former superior informed Masako that the file was organized in a manner that showed at a glance who at Finance Ministry headquarters in Tokyo gave the instructions, what sections were falsified and how the falsification was carried out.

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