An opinion piece written by Finance Vice Minister Koji Yano, carried in the November issue of the Bungeishunju monthly magazine. (Mainichi)

       TOKYO -- An article that Japanese Vice Finance Minister Koji Yano contributed to a magazine criticizing ongoing party policy debates ahead of the House of Representatives election has sent ripples through the political world.

       In a contribution to the monthly magazine Bungeishunju, Yano criticized the policies being discussed as "races to see who can spend more lavishly," which drew criticism from the ruling parties. Why has a top bureaucrat, who ordinarily remains behind the scenes, made the rare step of contributing an essay to a magazine?

       "He received permission from previous Finance Minister (Taro) Aso, and reported to me prior to publication, so there were no procedural missteps," Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told a press conference following a Cabinet meeting on Oct. 12, indicating the Finance Ministry's position and attempting to mitigate any damage from the case.

       The article was carried in the November issue of the Bungeishunju magazine that went on sale Oct. 8. It was titled, "Zaimujikan, mono mosu 'kono mama dewa kokkazaisei wa hatan suru'" (The Vice Finance Minister speaks out: If we go on this way, national finances will collapse), and discussed Japan's critical financial situation over the course of 10 pages.

       In the piece, Yano criticized policy debate among ruling and opposition parties as taking place "as if there were unlimited cash in national coffers," and likened Japan's fiscal situation to "the Titanic charging straight for an iceberg." He added that "Policy debate has become fraught with extremely serious problems from the point of view of feasibility, efficacy and negative effects," expressing concern over the political situation using pointed expressions.

       Yano entered the Ministry of Finance in 1985. He was a secretary to former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga when Suga was chief Cabinet secretary, and also served in other major posts such as Tax Bureau chief and Budget Bureau chief. This past July, he became the first graduate of Hitotsubashi University to become vice minister of the Finance Ministry, a position that has traditionally been served by University of Tokyo graduates. Even within the ministry, he is known as a particularly heavy-handed advocate of fiscal rehabilitation.

       Once the opinion piece was out in the world, it was met with dissatisfied voices from the ruling parties. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s policy chief, Sanae Takaichi, criticized the article in a strong tone on an Oct. 10 program on the public broadcaster NHK. "It was a very rude thing to say," Takaichi said. "To not help the people who are going through tough times now, to not invest in the children who are our future -- there's nothing as ridiculous as this." Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was also said to have told those around him, "It's an erroneous argument. And to announce it in that way was preposterous." On a BS Nippon Television program on Oct. 11, Takaichi once again criticized Yano's paper, saying, "It's as if all Diet members have been insulted."

       The Finance Ministry, which is in charge of compiling the budget, is also called "the government office of government offices," with the vice minister at the top of all bureaucrats. But even vice ministers ordinarily dedicate themselves to the role of coordinator behind the scenes, which is why Yano's contribution to the magazine was met with so much surprise. One senior LDP official said, "What Yano did was out of line for a bureaucrat. He may say that it's just his personal opinion, but that won't cut it."

       A senior bureaucrat with an economy-related portfolio said, "Even if there are things we disagree with, we bureaucrats never say things outwardly."

       On a Fuji Television program on Oct. 10, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, "It's alright for there to be various views, but once a direction is decided upon, we expect those involved to cooperate." For now, it does not seem as though this will lead to calls for Yano to be replaced. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara was asked for his views on the case at a press conference Oct. 12, to which he merely said, "I understand that a general theory on policy was expressed as a personal opinion."

       (Japanese original by Takayuki Hakamada and Yuki Machino, Business News Department; and Shuhei Endo, Political News Department)

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