Photo/Illutration The Defense Ministry in Tokyo’s Ichigaya district (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A Maritime Self-Defense Force captain was dismissed for leaking state secrets related to national security to his former boss, a retired vice admiral he deeply admired, the Self-Defense Forces announced on Dec. 26.

The SDF’s Criminal Investigation Command also said the organization has sent files to prosecutors on suspicion he violated the SDF Law and the law on the protection of specially designated secrets--the first case to be exposed since the law took effect in 2014.

The captain in question is Takashi Inoue, a 54-year-old with the MSDF Staff College.

Another active MSDF member and two retirees from the MSDF also received disciplinary measures, including a job suspension and pay cut.

The Criminal Investigation Command said Inoue is suspected of knowingly sharing sensitive intelligence with his former boss, who retired after serving as a vice admiral in command of the Self-Defense Fleet. Inoue apparently did this when he briefed him on the security situation on March 19, 2020.

The intelligence shared included state secrets gathered on Japan’s security environment, as well as information on the operational status of the SDF and its training sessions.

The Defense Ministry began an in-house probe into the case after it was tipped off the same day about a possible leak of classified information.

Inoue reportedly admitted to the leak during the ministry’s investigation.

But it could not confirm whether he leaked to individuals other than the former MSDF commander, or if the former commander had shared any of that information with others, the ministry said.

The ministry said Inoue shared the intelligence because he mistook briefing the former vice admiral, a man he was deeply in awe of, as an official assignment given by the Self-Defense Fleet headquarters.

The former commander reportedly told Inoue he would be taking on a role of advising the MSDF in the future.

But the ministry said there are no facts to suggest the former vice admiral was about to take any kind of advisory role.

The other active officer disciplined is in his 50s and he received a five-day suspension from his job.

The other retiree is a former chief of staff of the MSDF.

Under the law, the government designates secrets related to defense, diplomacy, counterintelligence and anti-terrorism as protected due to the sensitive nature of the material.

As of the end of June, Japan had designated 693 state secrets, 392 of which are with the ministry.

Leaking state secrets carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

Those in the private sector who induce officials to leak information face a maximum prison sentence of five years.

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