Photo/Illutration Takuya Hirai, the state minister in charge of digital transformation, speaks to reporters on Sept. 17, 2020. (Asahi Shimbun file photo/pool)

While the Lower House Committee on Cabinet was in session in May last year to debate the extension of the retirement age of the chief of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors' Office, Takuya Hirai, a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, had his eyes glued to the screen of his tablet.

He was caught watching a video of a crocodile waddling into a golf course. 

When Hirai became the state minister in charge of digital transformation a few months later and appeared on television, he was called out on this flub. 

He apologized: "I was out of line. I am sorry. I wouldn't have done that had the video not been about a crocodile. I am a crocodile fan."

Hirai was forced to apologize again on June 11.

But this time, he was taken to task for his conduct during a teleconference in April with his Cabinet Secretariat staff in charge of information technology strategy.

Specifically, he ordered his subordinates to "completely ignore" NEC Corp., the leader of the consortium commissioned by the government to develop an app for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

Mentioning the NEC chairman by name, Hirai urged his subordinates to "threaten" him.

According to his side of the story, the matter emanated from the government's decision to ban foreign tourists from coming to Japan for the Olympics. Their absence rendered the face recognition app unnecessary, which, Hirai insisted, justified reducing the amount payable to NEC. 

Still, it was obvious from the audiotape of the teleconference that Hirai essentially instructed his subordinates to "go and threaten" NEC. This can hardly be considered appropriate behavior.

I was reminded of "Wani" (Crocodile), a children's picture book by Kaho Nashiki.

The eponymous protagonist is the biggest bully in the jungle, making impossible demands of otters and impalas.

"It looks like everybody respects me," he gloats. "They all bust their chops for me."

The truth, though, was that nobody respected him at all.

As the person in charge of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's pet policy, Hirai declared proudly just the other day, "To make a pun of 'bushido' (the samurai code of honor), I am resolved to never deviate from 'dejido' (literally, the digital way)."

But as a crocodile fan from way before the establishment of the Digital Agency, Hirai keeps lumbering off the path of propriety.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June12  

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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