CHINO, Japan, July 10, 2021—Beleaguered Japanese Prime Minister Suga’s key minister July 8 said he would instruct commercial banks to cub lending to bars and restaurants that refuse to observe the government ban on serving alcoholic beverages during the Tokyo Olympic games, with total disregard for laws and regulations that do not give such authority to the government. It’s a clear reflection of the Suga administration’s domination policy toward the private sector that is fostered by the growing bureaucracy-lawmaker control of government.
Economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura’s said at a July 8 news conference, in which he presented his policy on the white board: ‘I believe financial institutions have various day to day business (with bars and restaurants that serve alcohol). Since this (the state of emergency announcement that bans serving alcoholic beverages) is based on law and government orders, I would like the financial institutions to urge (bars and restaurants) to strictly observe. The former Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry bureaucrat also said he would instruct liquor wholesalers to suspend business with bars and restaurants.
Bars and restaurants and their lobbies tweeted against Nishimura that his comments were excessively high-handed and that there’s no law and regulations allowing the government to implement such orders. Some tweeted, ‘Ban Nishimura’s visit to all bars and restaurants!’
Nishimura later tried to clarify his comments saying that it was his hope that banks will cooperate in not serving alcohol and that he did not intend to abuse government authority. He did not apologize. He rolled back his comments July 9 in response to complaints from his Liberal Democratic Party.
Nishimura is a typical bureaucrat-turned politician, having studied at University of Tokyo, the assembly line producing bureaucrats, then joined METI and elected to the House of Representatives in the mid-2010s. His attitude is one of the Edo period samurai serving a domain lord, diligently executing the master’s orders with total disregard for ordinary citizens. He is not the only such politician. In fact, many LDO lawmakers have similar traits if not executing policies as shrewdly as Nishimura – until now.
Nishimura faces resignation pressure from within LDP and voters.
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