Govt Will Not Appeal Court Ruling Over Moritomo Scandal-Linked Documents; Ishiba Gave Instructions with Consideration to Victim, Family

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:06 JST, February 7, 2025

The government has decided not to appeal a high court ruling rejecting the Finance Ministry’s decision not to disclose scandal-linked documents. The decision accords with instructions given by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and others on Thursday.

The documents are connected to a scandal in which the ministry falsified official records related to school operator Moritomo Gakuen.

Toshio Akagi, an official of the ministry’s Kinki Local Finance Bureau at the time of the scandal, took his own life at the age of 54 in March 2018. Akagi suffered from depression after being instructed by the ministry’s Financial Bureau to falsify documents.

Akagi’s wife Masako asked the ministry to disclose documents that it had submitted to and received back from the special investigation squad of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office. The documents were submitted on a voluntary basis. However, the ministry decided not to disclose the documents to Masako, nor did it acknowledge they exist, on the grounds that it would reveal details of the investigation.

The Osaka High Court on Jan. 30 ruled that the ministry’s decision not to disclose the documents while also not clarifying their existence was illegal.

“I made the decision based on the belief that the ruling should be taken seriously, with consideration for Akagi’s feelings and those of his family,” Ishiba told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday.

Regarding the future disclosure of the documents, he said, “I sincerely and earnestly intend to address the issue based on the law and from the perspective of fulfilling [the government’s] accountability to the people.”

Kato acknowledged that the documents exist, telling reporters on the day, “All the documents submitted to the prosecutors have been returned to the Finance Ministry, and we will examine them carefully.”

While Kato commented that the ruling contained legal issues and errors in its determination of the facts, he said, “We accept the conclusion of the ruling.”

First step

“I can finally take a first step,” Masako said at a press conference in Osaka in the wake of the government’s decision not to appeal the ruling.

Masako said that last March, the sixth anniversary of Akagi’s death, she received a text message from Ishiba, who was not prime minister at that time. In the message, Ishiba said that he would make efforts to clarify the truth.

Masako sent a message to Ishiba on Thursday expressing her gratitude for the decision not to appeal. Ishiba replied, “Thank you for your message.”

Because the ruling did not order the disclosure of the documents, it is unclear how much the government will disclose. “In order to reveal the truth, I hope the documents will be disclosed without redaction,” Masako said.