You may remember the excommunication of'entertainment' in early February, known as a special report by Shukanbunshun, the leading Japanese weekly magazine.

Suga's eldest son, Mr. Seigo, attended a satellite broadcasting company called Tohoku Shinsha to senior executives of the Japanese government's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. It is a case where public officials were disciplined.

▶ [World Transport] Suga's'oldest son's hospitality' excommunicated...

Arrow back to Suga?




According to the results of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' self-investigation, the next Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Tanawaki General Affairs Officer, resigned today (16th) as he was condemned for violating the code of ethics for public officials.

In addition, 11 high-ranking public officials at the managerial level or above who received hospitality, including Tanawaki, were subject to disciplinary action.

The public relations officer of the Cabinet cabinet Makiko Yamada, who was selected by Prime Minister Suga and received a splendid spotlight, also stepped down after it was revealed that he received hospitality as a general affairs judge.

In the case of the Yamada Cabinet Public Relations Officer, public opinion sharply deteriorated when it was revealed that the dinner party with the Tohoku Shinsha side on November 6, 2019 was 74,230 yen per person, and it was close to 800,000 won in our money.

It is known that they enjoyed the “wagyu” steak and seafood menu, which is the finest beef, but it is still too much for one meal.

In the end, Mr. Yamada was hospitalized for reasons of health problems, but it seems that he decided that it was difficult to stay and resigned.



Weekly magazine Shukanbun-shun continued to report on scoops without stopping here.

In early March, this time, Japan's largest telecommunications company NTT reported suspicion of hospitality by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

NTT is a leading Japanese company that is overwhelming in terms of corporate size and recognition compared to Tohoku Shinsha, which previously caused a stir in hospitality.

Shukanbun-shun's follow-up report was on March 4, where the former General Deputy Officer Tanawaki reappeared due to the issue of a dinner party with Tohoku Shinsha.

It is said that Mr. Tanawaki received three hospitality from NTT President Jun Sawada and others from 2018 to last year, and NTT paid the entire amount.

Shukanbun-shun revealed that the amount of hospitality received was 170,000 yen in all three times, close to 2 million won in our money, and the dining venue was also a high-class restaurant run by an NTT affiliate.

Shukanbun-shun said that the reports of the NTT hospitality suspicion began with the report of'anonymous' received from NTT after the world became noisy with the entertainment of Tohoku Shinsha.



Earlier, it is believed that Tohoku Shinsha held a'lobby' against senior executives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, who had the right to license the satellite broadcasting business right, when the license renewal period was imminent.

It is a common view that NTT's newly revealed hospitality to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is also to strengthen the relationship with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which has a powerful authority.

NTT, which was privatized in 1985, is regulated by the government to hold 30% of the stocks, and under the NTT Act, it does not unfairly wield the market advantage of the old telegraph and telephone construction days.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications must obtain permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for business planning and appointment of executives, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is also responsible for allocating mobile communication frequencies for NTT DoCoMo, a mobile phone affiliate.

In short, there is an analysis that the relationship between NTT and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has been a situation like a'bomb that might explode' for a long time because the business itself is not easy if it is not clearly visible to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.




As Japan's largest company, NTT's hospitality to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications was focused on the highest level.

In 2017 and 2018, when Senator Seiko Noda, who is now acting as the secretary of the Liberal Democratic Party, served as secretary of the party, he had a dinner with former president Tachikawa of NTT DoCoMo and president of NTT West Japan Murao. In 2020, Rep. Sanae Takaichi, who was the immediate predecessor of the prefecture's General Secretary Ryota Takeda, had two dinners with NTT President Jun Sawada.

All of them have held important positions in the government in the Abe cabinet, and are particularly people who have been noted as'mainstream women' within the Liberal Democratic Party.

Rep. Noda and Rep. Takaichi admitted to having a dinner with NTT, but denied allegations of hospitality, saying that it was a'private seat' with businessmen regardless of the affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

However, for us, it is difficult to immediately believe the clarification that the Secretary-General, who was the minister, had a private dinner with businessmen without any connection to work.



Meanwhile, in the Japanese parliament yesterday, NTT President Jun Sawada and President Shinya Tohoku Shinsha Nakajima, who are the parties to the “entertainment”, attended as references and were attacked by lawmakers asking questions related to hospitality by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

At this meeting, NTT President Sawada said, "We are using it as a place to exchange opinions on the future society and international situation through meetings with experts, starting with the media and opposition lawmakers on a daily basis."

In addition, he explained the purpose of such a meeting (dinner meeting), "The members of the National Assembly have considerable knowledge and wide knowledge. It is a great stimulus and a place for good study."

He said, "I don't talk about making requests for work or getting conveniences on the contrary."

He directly denied the suspicion of'costability' that naturally follows hospitality.




The president, the head of a large telecommunications company, met the highest rank of the government department, who holds the management supervisor and the license right in one hand. The gist of Mr. Sawada's remark is that he did not receive it.

Many people in Japan are kicking their tongues at this ‘Gotham Junron’ by President Sawada, which came out of a situation where attention was drawn.

If you're going to talk about that, there are many voices of anger that ask why you came to the National Assembly.

Some argue that if you are trying to escape the situation by saying that you are not responsible because you are a reference person, you should call it a'witness' at all.

Let’s move a regular citizen’s Twitter.



Sawada, the president of NTT, paid a lot of money to set up a drink, but he didn't talk about work that would have been an interest in the ultra-modern world.

So what did you say?

For example, did you talk about the weather or a hot topic TV program against Yamada General Affairs Officer?

Or is it just an old story?

The explanation of a person who is the president of a company listed on the first part of the stock market is very difficult to see.

In addition, it is said that there was a gift for 3,000 yen (32,000 won).


Anyway, this incident, which started as a lobby entertainment for a high-ranking public official at a satellite broadcasting station attended by Prime Minister Suga's son, has not shown any signs of calming down as it extends to NTT, a super-conglomerate.

Prime Minister Suga is trying to silence public opinion by saying that he will ``work punishment'' according to the results of the investigation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, but the extent of corruption has exceeded expectations so far, so that 144 executives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications have risen to the subject of the investigation.

As a result, there is a high possibility that the political debate over how to control the possibility of abuse and the powerful authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in charge of broadcasting and communications and IT policies.

And, of course, the results of such discussions are likely to have a significant impact on the success of the'digital transformation policy', which the Sansuga regime is almost last expecting from the disappointment of the Japanese people due to the delayed response to the coronavirus and the delay in vaccination.

Today is just six months since the Suga regime was established.