Doing it like the Japanese

Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
My View - The Sun Daily
21 June, 2016

T has happened yet again within less than three years. The governor of Tokyo, Yoichi Masuzoe, tendered his resignation last week following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Naoki Inose, who quit in December 2013. The latter stepped down when reports linked him to a campaign-funding scandal where he reportedly acknowledged receiving a loan of more than US$500,000 from a hospital operator during an election. Although he denied that the money was for political purposes, critics alleged it was an undisclosed campaign contribution.

In the case of Masuzoe, however, the allegation is said to be of “relatively minor” where the amounts that he has been “accused of spending improperly on himself and his family are hardly vast by the standards of modern politics-and-money scandals. There were reimbursements of a few hundred dollars for restaurant meals, and a few thousand dollars for hotel stays. Indeed, a Liberal Democratic Party assemblyman, Shigeru Kamibayashi, was quoted as describing this, in Japanese slang, as “sekoi” – meaning: petty or small-minded.

A review of his spending put the sekoi at ¥4.4 million, or a mere US$41,000, in expenses spread over several years that is considered “inappropriate, but not illegal”. It did not seem to matter that he admitted that there had been “some mixing of public and personal” in his spending, and that “he had not knowingly broken any rules”. It is the act that counts rather than the amount involved.

The Japanese public wants no such excuses and antagonism over the matter appears to have deepened. Public opinion was unsympathetic to the governor’s expressed intention to stay on to attend this year’s Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro; Tokyo plays host in 2020. This snub was particularly telling as not only is the governor supposed to be the host, an organiser and global ambassador to the 2020 Olympic, he is also acknowledged to be a keen supporter of the Olympics. He has made repeated promises not to waste taxpayers’ money and has done well in reining in the cost. For example, he has refused to take on the expense of a main stadium estimated at US$2 billion – a record amount for an Olympic stadium, and probably the costliest sports venue in history. Amid growing public anger, a cheaper alternative was designed by the Japanese with a smaller footprint through the use of traditional design to accommodate 80,000 spectators in three tiers.

Even then assemblymen from his Liberal Democratic Party were not impressed and contemplated passing a no-confidence motion at the Tokyo assembly against the governor as his approval ratings plummeted with defections by political allies. And when opinion polls showed that three out of four voters wanted him to quit his fate was sealed.

On top of this, a less publicised controversy was the withdrawal of the official Tokyo Olympic logo that allegedly resembled one from a Belgian designer who sued the International Olympic Committee and later dropped the suit. The logo introduced mid-last year has been used in commercials and other promotional material.

When it comes to mega projects, it is never smooth sailing. But few countries have the no-nonsense way of handling it like the Japanese. As soon as things fall through the cracks there seems a robust response to ensure that the matter is “solved” promptly. Resignations, viewed as political hara-kiri, are preferred in Japan as a means of taking ownership and responsibility publicly even for relatively “sekoi” misdemeanours.

Underlying all this is the ideal of saving one’s (if not the country’s) honour from sinking deeper into disgrace and bringing irreversible shame to all. Unless there is no longer shame left in the desperate attempt to hang on to power, the Japanese way can be an effective means in cleansing the political arena before any scandal corrupts the entire political system. Malaysia, which seems vulnerable, may want to look carefully into this matter as part of the next phase of its Look East Policy.