Tokyo: Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada has decided to voluntarily return part of his November salary over a controversial essay on Japan s role in World War II written by then Air Force Chief Gen Toshio Tamogami, who has since been sacked, ministry officials said.
Because here are no rules for reprimanding parliamentarians in the Defence Ministry, Hamada, a legislator, decided to punish himself for failing to supervise Tamogami, who authored the essay containing views on the war at variance with the position of successive Japanese governments. The essay was made public on Friday.
Senior Vice Defense Minister Seigo Kitamura and parliamentary defense secretaries Nobuo Kishi and Ryota Takeda, also followed Hamada s example.
Meanwhile, the ministry has issued reprimands to Vice Defense Minister Kohei Masuda and two other senior bureaucrats over the affair, the officials said. Hamada is to return to the public coffers some 169,000 yen, Kitamura about 63,000 yen, and Kishi and Takeda around 40,000 yen.
Masuda incurred a 10-per cent cut in salary for November, the officials said, about 121,000 yen.
The move comes after after Prime Minister Taro Aso told Hamada earlier yesterday to ensure there is no repeat of this controversy caused by recent release of Tamogami's essay.
While Cabinet members regard the dismissal of Tamogami as the ASDF chief of staff as an appropriate response, the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan stepped up its attacks on the Aso government.
In a meeting yesterday morning, Aso told Hamada to punish relevant personnel in the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces as well as to tighten civilian control over the SDF, especially with regard to public expressions of political opinions by ranking officers, Hamada told a press conference.
