Photo/Illutration Masako Akagi, the widow of Finance Ministry employee Toshio Akagi, holding his portrait, responds to reporters after the Osaka High Court on Jan. 30. She is pictured in front of the court building in the city’s Kita Ward. (Yoshinori Mizuno)

The word “hohi” popped in my head as I wondered whether Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai (1898-1976) actually used that expression--or not--during the Japan-China talks leading up to the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1972.

According to a dictionary, the word was used as an insult against Justice Ministry officials in the former Manchukuo. It denoted unscrupulous bureaucrats who quibbled and interpreted the law as they saw fit, in total disregard of the public interest.

Fast-forward to the scandal involving the Moritomo Gakuen educational institution. The Finance Ministry not only refuses to disclose the documents it submitted to prosecutors, it also says it cannot even confirm or deny the existence of those records.

The reason, the ministry argues, is that even though the prosecutors have concluded their investigations, disclosing the documents--or confirming or denying their existence--will “negatively affect” future investigations.

What on earth does that mean? It makes no sense to me.

A third-party organ, examining whether the documents ought to be disclosed, has demanded that the Finance Ministry reconsider its position. But the latter refuses to budge.

Even considering Japan’s underdeveloped system of public records management, the ministry’s case comes across as an utter aberration.

And that must have been how judges at the Osaka High Court felt.

The court on Jan. 30 ruled that the ministry’s refusal to even confirm or deny the documents’ existence was “against the law.”

The ministry must promptly comply with the ruling and not bother with filing an appeal.

Nine years ago, government-owned land was sold to Moritomo Gakuen at a massive discount--by as much as 800 million yen below market value--and the government even approved a plan for Moritomo to pay by installments.

Why such an “exception” was made remains a mystery.

The name of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s widow has been deleted from all records dating back to that time.

Toshio Akagi, an official of the Finance Ministry’s Kinki Local Finance Bureau who was forced to falsify the documents, committed suicide in 2018.

Is the ministry still trying to hide something?

“All I want is to know the truth,” says Akagi’s widow, Masako.

Public documents do not belong to bureaucrats. They are a valuable asset of the people from the past as well as at present and for the future.

Bureaucrats must not lose sight of this obvious fact.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 1

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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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