Masako Akagi is seen carrying a photograph of her deceased husband Toshio Akagi, in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Oct. 11, 2021. Masako said she also wanted her husband to hear the exchanges at the National Diet. (Mainichi/Hiroyuki Oba)

       TOKYO -- The widow of Japanese Finance Ministry employee Toshio Akagi, who took his own life over a document tampering scandal concerning the cut-price sale of state land to nationalist school operator Moritomo Gakuen, expressed disappointment on Oct. 11 at Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's lack of proactive statements on another investigation into the case during a National Diet session the same day.

       Masako Akagi, 50, sat in on the House of Representatives plenary session where Kishida took party representatives' questions. She said it was "truly disappointing" that there was no forward-looking response on a new probe into the circumstances behind the tampering, in which her husband was involved as a then employee at the Kinki Local Finance Bureau. He died aged 54.

       During the session, opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Kiyomi Tsujimoto read aloud a letter Masako sent to Kishida, and called for a fresh investigation into the circumstances leading to the falsification. In response, Kishida avoided giving a clear statement, citing reasons including that a court case with Masako's side is ongoing.

       On Oct. 8, Kishida said to assembled reporters regarding the letter from Masako: "I have read it. And I've taken it to heart." After witnessing the plenary session, Masako told reporters, "I was hopeful because the prime minister had said he had taken it to heart. It's truly disappointing that there was no positive response regarding another investigation."

       But she also expressed some hope, saying, "He (Kishida) responded with civility. Perhaps there will come a time when he changes his mind." Masako also stated emphatically: "In the investigation report (released by the Ministry of Finance in June 2018), there wasn't a single mention that my husband suffered and died. I want them to do it over again, and include that my husband died."

       (Japanese original by Hiroyuki Oba, Tokyo City News Department)

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