Bureauctrats, Red Tape, Land Deals, And Shinzo Abe

Have you met a government employee at a government office who mercilessly scanned every detail of a written application and rejected it for any small issue? Such people are said to have a "bureaucratic" mind. Their sole purpose is to approve or reject the piles of government red tape.

The expression "red tape" originates with the red ribbon that once bound official documents in Britain. Today, it has come to represent what we mere common people see as document worship by the staff of government offices. In recent times, the bureaucracy's "document-ism" is intended to guarantee the preservation of evidence of official government actions, projects and decision-making so that it can be examined later. 

It needs to be impossible for the government to be bereft of records to show how it decided to sell a plot of state-owned land for just 14 percent of its appraised value. Of course, we are talking about the Finance Ministry's handling of just such a sale to nationalist private school operator Moritomo Gakuen. Surely those responsible for caring for Japanese people's assets have an obligation to maintain proof that they are carrying out this management fairly. 

What is surprising about the Moritomo affair is that the finance bureau head who so bluntly insisted during Diet discussions that the sale was "appropriate" while maintaining that "there are no records" has gone on to the top post in the National Tax Agency. Taxpayers struggling with the ample volumes of tax-system red tape must be astonished at the Finance Ministry's idea of "fairness." 

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who is in the nerve center of the government which now holds authority over bureaucrats' postings, stated recently that the aforementioned promotion stemmed from the principle of "the right person in the right place." Surely he did not mean that the government thought highly of the new National Tax Agency chief's handling of the Moritomo scandal, in which he could not verify the legitimacy of the land sale and as a result fueled public distrust in the government. Neither the administration nor the Finance Ministry should be so dismissive of taxpayers' feelings. 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is now obsessed with revising the Constitution, but we would like him to think about what in this world gave rise to two other constitutions, namely Britain's Magna Carta and the U.S. Constitution. Indeed, it was unjust taxation and unfair spending that sparked the fury of the people to demand the reforms embodied in these documents.

TEPCO Executives Go On Trial For Fukushima Reactor Disaster

Three former executives with the operator of the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have pleaded not guilty to charges of professional negligence, in the only criminal action targeting officials since the triple meltdown more than six years ago.

In the first hearing of the trial at Tokyo district court, Tsunehisa Katsumata, who was chairman of Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) at the time of the disaster, and two other former executives argued they could not have foreseen a tsunami of the size that knocked out the plant’s backup cooling system, triggering a meltdown in three reactors.

“I apologise for the tremendous trouble to the residents in the area and around the country because of the serious accident that caused the release of radioactive materials,” Katsumata said, bowing slightly.

Prosecutors alleged that the 77-year-old, along with his co-defendants, Sakae Muto, 67, and Ichiro Takekuro, 71 – both former Tepco vice-presidents – had been shown data that anticipated a tsunami of more than 10 metres in height that could cause a power outage and other serious consequences.

A report by a government panel said Tepco simulated the impact of a tsunami on the plant in 2008 and concluded that a wave of up to 15.7 metres (52 feet) could hit the plant if a magnitude-8.3 quake occurred off the coast of Fukushima. Executives at the company allegedly ignored the internal study.

 

The three men – charged with professional negligence resulting in death and injury – have since retired from Tepco.

The company, which faces a multibillion-dollar bill for decommissioning Fukushima Daiichi, is not a defendant in the trial. If convicted, the men face up to five years in prison or a penalty of up to 1m yen ($10,000).

Although there are no records of anyone dying as a result of exposure to radiation from the plant, prosecutors alleged the executives were responsible for the deaths of 40 elderly people who were evacuated from a hospital near the plant.

The Fukushima plant had a meltdown after the tsunami, triggered by a magnitude-9 earthquake, hit the plant on the afternoon of 11 March 2011.

The tsunami killed almost 19,000 people along the north-east coast of Japan and forced more than 150,000 others living near the plant to flee radiation. Some of the evacuated neighbourhoods are still deemed too dangerous for former residents to return to.

“They continued running the reactors without taking any measures whatsoever,” the prosecutor said. “If they had fulfilled their safety responsibilities, the accident would never have occurred.”

Muto challenged the allegation by the prosecution that he and the other defendants failed to take sufficient preventative measures despite being aware of the risk of a powerful tsunami more than two years before the disaster.

“When I recall that time, I still think it was impossible to anticipate an accident like that,” he said. “I believe I have no criminal responsibility over the accident.”

Investigations into the accident have been highly critical of the lax safety culture at Tepco and poor oversight by industry regulators. Prosecutors considered the case twice, and dropped it both times, but a citizens’ judicial panel overrode their decision and indicted the former executives.

Outside the court, Ruiko Muto, a Fukushima resident and head of the group of plaintiffs, said: “Since the accident, nobody has been held responsible nor has it been made clear why it happened. Many people have suffered badly in ways that changed their lives. We want these men to realise how many people are feeling sadness and anger.”

Reuters

Diet Investigation Of Kihei Maekawa To Proceed Without PM Abe Present

LDP Lawmaker  Under Investigation For Favoritism

Japan's ruling and opposition parties agreed Tuesday to briefly reopen the Diet next week for one-off committee deliberations, with plans to investigate a former top bureaucrat at the education ministry who has come forward alleging favoritism by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The agreement came shortly after the main opposition Democratic Party spurned an offer by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for committee deliberations on July 10 or 11, on the grounds that Abe would be unable to attend them due to an overseas trip.

Meeting with LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Wataru Takeshita for a second time on Tuesday, Democratic Party Diet affairs chief Kazunori Yamanoi agreed to hold committee deliberations on July 10 after the LDP consented to summoning Kihei Maekawa as an unsworn witness.

Maekawa, a former vice minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology, is likely to be asked about allegations that Abe has used his power as prime minister to help Kake Educational Institution, whose president is a close friend, open a veterinary medicine department in a special economic zone.

Emboldened by the LDP's crushing defeat in Sunday's Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, the Democratic Party and several other opposition parties agreed earlier in the day to call for committee deliberations or a new session of the Diet, amid a number of scandals dogging the government and ruling party.

With Abe scheduled not to return to Japan until July 12, the committee deliberations in both houses on July 10 will be held without him. But Takeshita told Yamanoi that the LDP will "consider" holding a session of a parliamentary committee with the prime minister in attendance, according to the opposition lawmaker.

The previous Diet session ended last month, but one-off committee deliberations can be held without convening a new session.

Abe is scheduled to attend a summit of the Group of 20 major economies in Germany starting July 7 and visit several Scandinavian countries and Estonia before returning to Japan on July 12.

Maekawa, who resigned from the top bureaucratic post over an unrelated case in January, has drawn attention for publicly vouching for the authenticity of ministry documents that indicated Abe's influence over the school construction project.

At their meeting on Tuesday, senior officials of the Democratic Party, Japanese Communist Party, Social Democratic Party and Liberal Party also decided to call for the prime minister to dismiss Defense Minister Tomomi Inada over remarks she made during a stump speech that they argue amounted to making political use of the Self-Defense Forces.

The LDP lost its status as the leading force in the Tokyo assembly amid voter frustration with the Abe administration, which is embroiled in various controversies. Meanwhile, popular Gov. Yuriko Koike's Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First party) and allies won an overall majority in the 127-seat assembly.

Just days before Sunday's assembly election, Inada asked voters to back an LDP candidate, saying the request came from "the Defense Ministry, the SDF, the defense minister and the LDP."

Under the law governing the country's defense apparatus, the SDF is supposed to remain politically neutral and its personnel are restricted in their ability to engage in political activities.

Also during the campaign period, former education minister Hakubun Shimomura, who is a close aide to Abe and was responsible for the party's election campaign in the capital, was also reported to have mishandled political donations from Kake Educational Institution, which he denied.

Kyodo

PM Abe Needs Action Not Words

PM Shinzo Abe Speaks With Media Tuesday

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 3 repeatedly pledged to learn from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s crushing defeat in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election on the previous day.

“An extremely severe judgment was rendered by the people of Tokyo. We have to seriously accept it as a strict rebuke of the LDP and deeply reflect (on our acts and remarks),” said Abe, who is also the LDP president, at the prime minister’s office.

The question is what kind of lessons he will glean from the bitter political setback and how he will actually change his behavior.

Abe is said to be considering reshuffling his Cabinet, apparently in hopes of revitalizing his political leadership, which has taken a massive hit from the election results.

But a simple change in the Cabinet lineup is not what the public wants to see.

Abe has shown a tendency to make a sharp distinction between friend and foe and pay little attention to dissenting voices. He has also pushed through his policy initiatives forcefully by using the ruling coalition’s overwhelming majority in both chambers of the Diet.

The core challenge confronting Abe is whether he can really do serious soul-searching over his high-handed political approach and mend his ways.

During Diet sessions, Abe has heaped praise on opposition parties willing to work with his government while mounting scathing verbal attacks on opposition parties critical of his administration.

He has also utilized news media sympathetic to his views and opinions as channels to communicate his messages to the public.

In campaigning for the metropolitan assembly poll, both Abe and LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai pinned the blame on the party's uphill battle on media coverage of political scandals and gaffes.

Abe’s haughty refusal to listen to critics and dissenters in an arrogant attitude apparently driven by his dominant political power has also sapped the LDP’s own vigor.

During the four and a half years since his return to power, Abe has secured a tight grip over the party’s decisions on its official candidates for elections, key personnel appointments and distribution of political funds. Many LDP lawmakers now meekly kowtow to Abe’s leadership.

The LDP readily accepted a proposal to change the party rules to allow its president to serve up to three three-year terms for a total of nine years. This is another sign of the party being under Abe’s thumb.

The basic rules of democracy require that decisions be made by a majority vote in the end. But they also demand that the voices of the minority should also be heard for exhaustive debate on policy issues.

Abe should remember this principle and abandon his self-righteous refusal to heed dissenting voices.

In response to the LDP’s defeat in the Tokyo poll, the Abe administration is showing an inclination to allow Diet committees to hold deliberations while the Diet itself is not in session.

We welcome the move, but simply allowing out-of-session committee meetings will not be enough.

The Abe Cabinet should swiftly convene an extraordinary Diet session in response to opposition parties’ demand based on Article 53 of the Constitution.

Article 53 states that the Cabinet must convene such a session when “a quarter or more of the total members of either House makes the demand.”

This is a provision to guarantee minority groups’ right to make their voices heard at the Diet.

If Abe is serious about soul-searching, he should start by observing this constitutional provision.

Redressing mistakes made by the administrative branch of the government is an important responsibility of the legislature.

There should be no difference between ruling and opposition parties in commitment to this duty.

We urge LDP lawmakers to demonstrate their pride as the representatives of the people by calling on the prime minister to convene an extraordinary session.

In an Asahi Shimbun exit poll conducted during the July 2 election, 71 percent of the respondents said the administration’s response to the political scandal involving the Kake Educational Institution, a school operator with a link to Abe, has been “inappropriate.”

If Abe fails to match his words about soul-searching with concrete and convincing actions, public support for his administration will further wane.

Asahi

PM Shinzo Abe Faces Serious Challenges After Tokyo Election

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike

 A stinging rebuke by voters in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election Sunday is certain to set off postmortem finger-pointing and a strategic recalibration within Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party as he weighs a path forward for amending the constitution.

"We take the results seriously," a stunned Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai told reporters Sunday night. "We will reassess what needs to be reassessed and do our best to recover our lost ground." 

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's new Tomin First no Kai party and groups aligned with her captured 79 seats in the 127-member metropolitan assembly, handily defeating the LDP, which was left with a meager 23 seats, down from 57 before the election.

Hakubun Shimomura, who heads the LDP's Tokyo chapter but faces allegations of receiving murky political donations, attributed the party's loss to trouble on the national level. "Heavy headwinds were blowing far above, in national politics," he said in a Fuji Television program. He later told reporters that he plans to step down to take responsibility for the loss.

Abe's party had enjoyed unrivaled strength since unseating the Democratic Party of Japan in December 2012, as victories in three national-level elections followed. But a favoritism scandal involving a veterinary school run by a friend of Abe's as well as a gaffe by his hawkish defense minister on the campaign trail appear to have weakened public support.

Complications for Abe

In a Nikkei opinion poll conducted June 16-18, right before the start of campaigning for the metropolitan assembly election, approval ratings for the Abe cabinet stood at 49%, a 7-point drop from a month earlier. Abe's power inside the party could erode if his plunging support is viewed as the cause of the devastating loss in the crucial Tokyo vote.

Growing criticism within the party could complicate Abe's plan for an easy victory in the LDP presidential election in September 2018.

Shigeru Ishiba, a former regional revitalization minister who is believed to harbor ambitions for Abe's job, gave a scathing assessment. "We should acknowledge the historic defeat," he told The Nikkei. "This was not a victory for Tomin First no Kai, but a defeat for the LDP."

"Damage control is crucial," Ishiba added. "The timing of a cabinet shake-up and the new lineup will determine the future of government management going forward."

PM Abe Dismisses Calls For Imamura Resignation

Imamura At Diet Thursday

 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dismissed opposition calls Thursday for the resignation of the disaster reconstruction minister, Masahiro Imamura, over remarks implying Fukushima evacuees yet to return to parts of the prefecture deemed safe to live in should fend for themselves.

Masahiro Imamura had been defending at a Tuesday press conference the central government’s decision to delegate help for the “voluntary evacuees” from the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster when he said it is such people’s “own responsibility, their own choice” not to return.

“I want him to continue to be alongside those affected by the disaster and devote every effort to his duties with the aim of realizing reconstruction as soon as possible,” Abe said during a plenary session of the House of Representatives.

Earlier Thursday, Imamura, 70, apologized for “causing a nuisance to everyone” at a session of the lower house committee on reconstruction from the 2011 disaster.

Housing subsidies ran out last month for people who left areas other than government-designated zones around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

At the Japanese Lower House of the Diet on Thursday Imamura said “Prime Minister Abe said I should apologize that I used a disparaging word and gave the impression that (the evacuees) are responsible for their own (return) despite the fact that they are displaced because of the nuclear disaster, and I deeply apologize,” Imamura said.

Kazuko Kori, a lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party the recovering area of northeastern Japan, had called for Imamura to resign because “we cannot discuss reconstruction under this minister.”

Many in the Diet have dismissed Imamura's aplogy as being nothing more than "Abe told me to, so that is the sole reason I am apologizing".

But Imamura vowed to “keep performing my duties in good faith.”

Imamura had aggressively lashed out at the reporter who had asked him the question on Tuesday, yelling “shut up” at the reporter during the press conference. He offered a brief apology the same day for having “become emotional.”

He said Thursday he is willing to apologize to the reporter, “if Prime Minister Abe said it is necessary.”

The lower house reconstruction committee is currently debating a proposal to reform a special law relating to the 2011 disaster that would see the state pay for cleanup efforts in the areas of Fukushima still too contaminated with radioactivity to live in.

Imamura has been in his post since a Cabinet reshuffle in August last year.

KYODO

Disaster Reconstruction Minister Masahiro Imamura Calls Fukushima Evacuees Leeches

Masahiro Imamura, Japan’s disaster reconstruction minister, said Tuesday displaced people yet to return to areas of Fukushima Prefecture deemed safe to live in are “responsible for their own lives and living,” before snapping at the reporter whose question prompted the remark.

Imamura made the comment at a press conference explaining the government’s efforts for the reconstruction of areas hit by the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

Housing subsidies ran out last month for those who had left areas other than government-designated zones around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Citing a court decision last month that the central government and the plant’s operator were liable in the nuclear disaster in the first ruling of its kind since the crisis, a reporter asked what the state is doing to help the “voluntary evacuees.”

Imamura responded that the central government has delegated such matters to prefectural authorities, which are more knowledgeable about local conditions.

“It’s evacuees responsibility, their own choice not to return, they are acting like leeches” he said when pressed further, pointing out that other evacuees have managed to go back to the areas.

The reporter said some of those still displaced have found themselves unable to return, and asked whether the state should take more responsibility for looking after those people.

“We are taking responsibility. The evacuees refuse to return so we have the situation now. So why are you saying something so rude?” Imamura shouted, slamming his podium.

Pointing a finger at the reporter, he then yelled, “Take that back! Get out of here!”

“You’re the one who’s causing problems for the evacuees,” someone called out as Imamura walked away from the podium, to which the minister responded “Shut up! You are annoying!" before leaving the room.

“The minister has informed me that he became emotional and was unable to remain calm for part of today’s press conference,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said during a subsequent press conference.

Suga, the government’s top spokesman, said the matter is one for Imamura himself to “handle appropriately.”

Imamura apologized later Tuesday, telling reporters he had “become emotional.”  When he was pressed again to explain what the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is doing to assist the remaining evacuees, Imamura thanked the media present and left the press room without comment.

Imamura, 70, was installed in his post in a Cabinet reshuffle in August last year.

KYODO

Here is video of the exchange

Vietnamese Detainee Dies In Custody At Japanese Immigration Center

Detention Area at Ibaraki Immigration Center

A Vietnamese man died in a solitary cell at a Japanese immigration detention center on Saturday. The Vietnamese detainee had complained of pain throughout his detention for a week before his death, according to fellow detainees.

The death was the 13th in Japan’s detention system since 2006, a toll that has provoked sustained criticism from activists and a watchdog overseeing the centres about conditions prevailing there.

In a handwritten note seen by Reuters on Tuesday, six detainees said the man, Nguyen The Hung, repeatedly told guards he was suffering from pain in his neck and head after his arrival at the East Japan Immigration Center in Ibaraki Prefecture in mid-March.

An official at the centre northeast of Tokyo, declined to elaborate on a statement issued on Monday saying that a Vietnamese man in his forties had been found unconscious there on Saturday and later pronounced dead.

A Vietnamese nun helping to arrange Nguyen’s funeral, Tam Tri Thich, initially told Reuters on Monday that the Vietnamese embassy in Tokyo had told her that Nguyen had killed himself at the facility.

On Tuesday, however, she said she had misheard the information and that in fact the embassy had told her only that Nguyen had died suddenly.

The embassy did not immediately reply to Reuters telephone and email requests for comment.

Nguyen was prescribed painkillers by a doctor at the centre last Wednesday, the detainees said in their letter, only for guards to ignore his later complaints of pain and admonish him to be quiet.

A Reuters investigation into the death of a Sri Lankan held in a solitary cell at a Tokyo detention center revealed serious gaps in medical care and monitoring of people held in Japan’s immigration detention system.

The cause of Nguyen’s death has not been announced. The centre and the country’s Justice Ministry, which oversees the detention centres, have said the authorities would perform an autopsy.

The East Japan Immigration Center held 297 detainees at the end of last year, according to the Justice Ministry.  

Reuters

Opposition Parties Want PM Shinzo Abe's Wife To Testify

PM Abe's Wife, Akie Abe

Four opposition parties on March 24 agreed to demand that first lady Akie Abe testify as a sworn witness in the Diet to determine who is lying in relation to a questionable deal over state-owned land.

The move comes a day after Yasunori Kagoike, chief of the Osaka-based Moritomo Gakuen educational institution, repeated his claims about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Akie, and the couple again rejected Kagoike’s words as falsehoods.

“There is a total contradiction in what Akie said and what Kagoike said,” Kazunori Yamanoi, Diet Affairs Committee chairman for the main opposition Democratic Party, said. “We are forced to make this request (to have Akie appear before the Diet) in order to clarify the facts.”

Kagoike, testifying as a sworn witness, told the Diet that he sought Akie’s help on a leasing deal for the state-owned land in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, that Moritomo Gakuen wanted to buy for a planned elementary school.

Kagoike also repeated that Akie gave him a 1 million yen ($9,000) donation from the prime minister.

The ruling coalition is opposed to calling Akie before the Diet on grounds that both she and her husband have repeatedly denied donating money to Kagoike or being involved in Moritomo Gakuen’s purchase of the land for 14 percent of its appraised value.

In Diet questioning on March 24, the prime minister again denied any involvement by him, his wife or his office in the land deal.

He and other government officials also blasted Kagoike’s claim that Akie gave him the money when they were alone in his office at Moritomo Gakuen.

“It is extremely regrettable that comments were made counter to the facts by laying out a situation involving a conversation in a closed room that makes it impossible to provide counter evidence,” Abe said at the Upper House Budget Committee on March 24.

He also criticized Kagoike for revealing only some of the e-mail exchanges between his wife and Akie to give the impression that the first lady had asked them to keep quiet about the evolving scandal.

The prime minister said he intended to disclose the e-mail exchange between the two women over a two-year period.

Kyodo

Cesium Spread In Fukushima By Wild Mushrooms

Source: Asahi News - 朝日新聞

Radioactive cesium released after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant's triple meltdown in 2011 is continuing to contaminate the environment through wild mushrooms, scientists say.

It turns out that the fungi absorb cesium and then release it through their spores after concentrating it.

But the amount of cesium in the environment is miniscule and poses no threat to human health, say the researchers, who are primarily with the Meteorological Research Institute of the Japan Meteorological Agency, Ibaraki University and Kanazawa University.

The new findings indicate that cesium is released into the environment again by mushroom spores in mountains and forests in zones designated as difficult to return to because of high contamination levels after the nuclear accident triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Radiation levels in the air are measured at monitoring posts and disclosed to the public. Those measurements are taken at a designated height to measure radiation from the ground and in the atmosphere.

In a separate effort, a team of scientists from the Meteorological Research Institute and other bodies measured the radioactivity concentration of cesium-137 by collecting airborne particles 1 meter above ground in Fukushima Prefecture.

The team’s survey showed that cesium levels in a mountainous area in the northwestern part of the town of Namie rise five times in summer compared with winter. The region is part of the difficult-to-return zone.

The increased cesium level during summer is equivalent to less than one ten-thousandth of the radiation dose of 2.1 millisieverts, which the average individual is naturally exposed to each year.

The latest findings were in marked contrast to studies covering the prefectural capital of Fukushima and elsewhere that showed cesium levels were higher in winter than summer.

Initially, the researchers considered the possibility of cesium on the ground's surface being kicked up by clouds of dust. But they found no clear association between the cesium level and dust.

Teruya Maki, an associate professor of microorganism ecology at Kanazawa University, analyzed genes of airborne particles gathered in forests and mountains in the northwestern part of Namie from August to September 2015.

The results showed that many of the particles were derived from mushrooms.

Between June and October last year, more than 10 kinds of wild mushrooms were gathered on 10 occasions in the region’s forests and mountains. The radioactivity concentration levels in the spores measured up to 143 becquerels per gram.

When multiplying the cesium concentration per spore by the number of collected spores per cubic meter, the result roughly matched the measured cesium concentration for the area.

“Spores in which cesium was concentrated were likely released into the atmosphere, raising the airborne concentration,” said Kazuyuki Kita, an air environment science professor at Ibaraki University, who was involved in the analysis of cesium levels.

The amount of cesium contained in a spore of sampled mushrooms was extremely small.

“Even if people inhale the air in areas where mushroom spores containing cesium are spreading, that could never affect human health,” said Kazuhiko Ninomiya, a researcher of radiochemistry at Osaka University, who is a member of the research team.

The researchers are also trying to ascertain the extent to which the mushroom spores spread. They are planning more studies to figure out if the distances involved could be several kilometers.

Last summer, airborne cesium concentration levels for mountains and forests in Namie that have yet to be decontaminated were almost the same as those for an area 1 kilometer away that has been decontaminated on a trial basis.

That indicates cesium is likely spreading in the air, according to the scientists.

Asahi News

Tokyo Gas Suggested Back Door Talks For Fish Market

Former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara

 

A former Tokyo deputy governor said Sunday that Tokyo Gas Co. suggested backdoor negotiations on the sale of contaminated land for a new Tokyo fish market.

The remark by Takeo Hamauzu, 69, contradicts the Tokyo government's official records that state Hamauzu in October 2000 sounded out Tokyo Gas, the owner of the land at the time, about holding secret talks on the sale.

The Tokyo government's main negotiator for the purchase of land to replace the aging Tsukiji fish market told a powerful committee of the Tokyo metropolitan assembly looking into the controversial relocation plan that the gas company had used the term "behind closed doors."

Among several potential relocation sites, the city government selected the land in the Toyosu waterfront area that was formerly used as a gas production site, reaching a basic agreement on the relocation plan in July 2001.

However, Yuriko Koike, upon becoming Tokyo governor last August, decided to postpone the planned November 2016 relocation of the market, which also deals in fruit and vegetables, amid lingering concerns about soil and air pollution at the new site.

Tokyo Gas was initially reluctant to sell the land to the Tokyo government as it thought the former gas production site would not be appropriate for a market. But according to the government records, Hamauzu approached the company and began secret talks on the land deal.

Hamauzu, close aide of then-Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, told the committee that as the gas company was originally considering using the land for a different development project, he thought the company wanted to discuss the land sale to the Tokyo government quietly as an abrupt change in the plan for the use of the Toyosu site could cause disruption.

"Since negotiations usually do not go well without taking into account a partner's demand, I said, 'We are fine to talk about it behind closed doors,'" Hamauzu told the committee.

Ishihara will appear before the committee Monday.

The metropolitan government said the same day benzene at up to 100 times the government-set safety limit had been detected in groundwater samples taken at the Toyosu site, higher than the benzene level of 79 times the allowable limit from Tokyo's ninth test results announced in January.

A former Tokyo deputy governor said Sunday that Tokyo Gas Co. suggested backdoor negotiations on the sale of contaminated land for a new Tokyo fish market.

The remark by Takeo Hamauzu, 69, contradicts the Tokyo government's official records that state Hamauzu in October 2000 sounded out Tokyo Gas, the owner of the land at the time, about holding secret talks on the sale.

The Tokyo government's main negotiator for the purchase of land to replace the aging Tsukiji fish market told a powerful committee of the Tokyo metropolitan assembly looking into the controversial relocation plan that the gas company had used the term "behind closed doors."

Among several potential relocation sites, the city government selected the land in the Toyosu waterfront area that was formerly used as a gas production site, reaching a basic agreement on the relocation plan in July 2001.

However, Yuriko Koike, upon becoming Tokyo governor last August, decided to postpone the planned November 2016 relocation of the market, which also deals in fruit and vegetables, amid lingering concerns about soil and air pollution at the new site.

Tokyo Gas was initially reluctant to sell the land to the Tokyo government as it thought the former gas production site would not be appropriate for a market. But according to the government records, Hamauzu approached the company and began secret talks on the land deal.

Hamauzu, close aide of then-Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, told the committee that as the gas company was originally considering using the land for a different development project, he thought the company wanted to discuss the land sale to the Tokyo government quietly as an abrupt change in the plan for the use of the Toyosu site could cause disruption.

"Since negotiations usually do not go well without taking into account a partner's demand, I said, 'We are fine to talk about it behind closed doors,'" Hamauzu told the committee.

Ishihara will appear before the committee Monday.

The metropolitan government said the same day benzene at up to 100 times the government-set safety limit had been detected in groundwater samples taken at the Toyosu site, higher than the benzene level of 79 times the allowable limit from Tokyo's ninth test results announced in January.

Kohei Urano, emeritus professor at Yokohama National University, said while benzene at 79 times or even 100 times the safety limit would pose little danger to health unless the groundwater was used at the market or to drink, it might still arouse public concern about food handling at the market.

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