Photo/Illutration A batch of unused ‘Abenomask’ packages (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Forced into a corner by a court, the government grudgingly released information about the cost of face masks it distributed early in the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The project, spearheaded when Shinzo Abe was prime minister, was ridiculed because many of the coverings were too small, and some were defective or dirty. They quickly earned the nickname “Abenomask.”

The government acted in response to a freedom of information lawsuit filed by Hiroshi Kamiwaki, a constitutional law professor at Kobe Gakuin University. Specifically, Kamiwaki was interested in the details of the contracts drawn up with companies to provide tens of millions of face masks for free.

The documents previously released by the government had the per-mask cost and number sold blacked out.

In a February ruling, the Osaka District Court said there was no danger of central government interests, or competition among companies, being compromised if the redacted information was disclosed.

It ordered full information disclosure on grounds the government bore responsibility to explain how taxpayer money was spent.

The newly released information showed a more than twofold difference in the per-unit cost of the masks based on which company provided the accessories and when the contracts were signed.

The information covered 32 contracts signed with 17 companies between March and June 2020. The government paid a total of 44.2 billion yen ($334 million) for roughly 300 million face masks so that each household in Japan would receive two face masks in the mail.

Many of the coverings were so small that no one wanted to wear them even though they were distributed for free. That led to a huge stockpile of unused face masks about two years after the initial purchase.

Unit prices differed due to the size and shape of the face masks as well as the materials used to make them.

The contracts showed that the tax exclusive unit price varied from 62.6 yen to 150 yen. The number of face masks contracted for also differed from 600 to 45.14 million.

The trading company that provided the most masks--about 110 million--asked for the same 130 yen per covering in all five contracts it signed with the government.

Another trading company provided the second largest number of masks at about 72 million. But the unit price increased from 119 yen in the initial contract to 126.8 yen in subsequent contracts.

Six companies began selling the masks to the government from March 2020 and regardless of how many were covered by a contract, the unit price was generally between 120 yen and 140 yen.

But for the 11 companies that began selling the masks from May 2020, the contracts were for 10 million face masks or less with the unit price generally between 100 yen and 120 yen.

The Board of Audit noted in a report about the purchase of Abenomasks that the government signed contracts at the estimated price initially submitted by the companies without a quibble.

In response to Board of Audit questioning, government officials explained it was difficult to calculate the market price beforehand due to pressure to acquire a large volume at short notice. The officials also asserted that only a few companies could provide such large numbers of face masks.

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