Hyogo Prefectural Govt 3rd-party Committee Concludes Ex-Senior Official Leaked Personal Information of Whistleblower

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:51 JST, May 24, 2025

The Hyogo prefectural government’s third-party committee has concluded that a senior official leaked personal information of the late whistleblower who accused Gov. Motohiko Saito of power harassment, according to sources in the prefecture.

The whistleblower whose personal information was leaked was a former director general of the prefectural government’s Nishiharima Prefectural Citizens Bureau. He died in July last year.

The committee, which probed the incident, judged that Chiaki Inomoto, former chief of the prefectural government’s general affairs department, had leaked his information. The prefectural government was considering disciplinary action against Inomoto.

Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine reported in July last year that Inomoto had shown the whistleblower’s personal information, which he kept in his assigned computer for public duty, to prefectural assembly members.

In October last year, the prefectural government set up the third-party committee comprising lawyers, which submitted an investigation report to the prefectural government in March this year. According to the sources, the committee, in their report, judged that Inomoto had leaked the information.

The prefectural government on Friday held a meeting of its disciplinary committee to discuss the possible punishment of Inomoto. Although results of the discussion have not been disclosed, the prefectural government’s guidelines stipulate that if a prefectural government official intentionally leaks confidential information, he or she could face dismissal or suspension from public duties.

In October last year, Inomoto attended a questioning session of the prefectural assembly’s investigative committee, which probed into the whistleblowing issue, and admitted he had printed out the personal information and possessed it in hard copy format.

But Inomoto refused to testify whether he had leaked the information, saying, “It is possible that I will be accused of abusing confidentiality based on my testimony.”

In December last year, two prefectural assembly members testified at the investigative committee that Inomoto orally discussed or showed them prints of the personal information. In its report in March this year, the assembly’s committee demanded the prefectural government take strict action toward Inomoto, including criminal accusation.