Post Offices’ Improper Roll Calls for Drivers: Deep-rooted Culture of Disregard for Laws and Regulations

Editorial

14:53 JST, April 30, 2025

Another large-scale violation of laws and regulations has been uncovered at the Japan Post Group. Why is there a spate of scandals at one of Japan’s largest organizations? The new management team must determine the root cause.

Japan Post Co. has announced that it failed to properly conduct roll calls for drivers of delivery vehicles at about 2,400 locations, or 75% of its nationwide post offices that offer collection and delivery services.

The Motor Truck Transportation Business Law requires operators to conduct roll calls for drivers before and after each ride to confirm their health and whether they are under the influence of alcohol, among other concerns.

It is unacceptable to neglect safety measures for postal vehicles driving in towns. There have been many cases in which records were fabricated to pretend that roll calls were conducted, according to Japan Post. It is obvious that an atmosphere of disregard for laws and regulations pervaded the workplaces.

In addition to the workplaces, there is also a serious lack of governance in the company as a whole. Japan Post’s head office and branch offices only confirmed roll calls through documents.

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry has begun a special audit of Japan Post. If irregularities are confirmed, the ministry intends to take actions such as suspending the use of vehicles at those post offices. All of the wrongdoing should be eliminated from the company.

The postal services were privatized in 2007. Subsequently, in 2019, inappropriate contracting by Japan Post Insurance Co. on a large scale was uncovered and became a social problem. In March this year, too, the misappropriation of customer information for about 10 million people at post offices and other facilities across Japan also came to light.

It has been pointed out that one of the reasons behind the spate of scandals at Japan Post Holdings Co. is that it still retains the corporate culture from the time when it was a government corporation. It has been noted that Japan Post has effectively maintained a monopoly in the mail delivery business and tends to lose its sense of urgency due to a lack of competition.

Of the about 24,000 post offices nationwide, more than three-quarters are former government-commissioned special post offices. The national association of postmasters, mainly made up of the directors of these post offices, is a powerful support base for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and it has the power to greatly influence management.

After privatization, successive presidents who were brought in from the outside were forced to consider the wishes of former government-commissioned special post offices and have struggled to spread their management policies to the rank and file. Efforts for management efficiency and a thorough awareness of legal compliance were also insufficient.

Hiroya Masuda, the president of Japan Post Holdings, who took up the post in 2020, is scheduled to step down in June amid the continuing scandals. He will be succeeded by Kazuyuki Negishi, a managing executive officer of Japan Post Holdings. This will be the first time since privatization that a former postal bureaucrat is appointed as president from inside.

Negishi may have an advantage because he is familiar with the postal business. He should demonstrate leadership to promote reforms with a sense of urgency that the businesses will lose the public’s trust if things continue as they are.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 30, 2025)