The huge fortune of Japan's female defense minister causes a stir

Besides the attention due to her beautiful appearance and tough stance, the new Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada recently caused a stir in public opinion because of her richest personal assets in the government.

In a list of assets disclosed by Japanese government members, Defense Minister Inada topped the list with assets worth 181.78 million yen ($1.78 million), Kyodo news agency said. That was three times the average for the cabinet of about 40.18 million yen.

Defense Minister Inada leads the list of government members' asset declarations. Photo: Reuters.

The bulk of the assets of Ms. Inada, who is considered a leading candidate to succeed Prime Minister Abe, are properties in Tokyo and her parliamentary constituency, Fukui prefecture.

The Mainichi newspaper added that the female minister also owns hundreds of thousands of shares in her husband's name in more than 40 companies, including three large defense companies.

Public-private conflict of interest?

These companies include IHI Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corporation, all of which have had large contracts with the Japanese government.

The Japanese newspaper said that the Japanese Ministry of Defense's Procurement, Technology and Logistics Agency had awarded an order worth more than 263 billion yen to Mitsubishi Corporation in 2014. Kawasaki Corporation received an equipment supply contract worth more than 190 billion yen, and IHI Corporation received a contract worth nearly 62 billion yen.

According to Mainichi, Ms. Inada bought the shares under her husband’s name sometime after September 2014, when she left her post as minister in charge of administrative reform. Meanwhile, the Japanese government passed a “set of guidelines” in 2001 requiring ministers to refrain from buying and selling stocks while in office.

Associate Professor Stephen Nagy (International Christian University, Tokyo) said "there is a clear conflict of interest". "This could cause some political trouble for Prime Minister Abe. He has been relatively free of scandals since returning to the prime minister's chair."

Regarding information about Minister Inada's assets, Mr. Nagy said that "this could make Japanese people more skeptical of politicians."

Information about Ms. Inada's assets may raise concerns about public-private conflicts of interest for Japanese politicians. Photo: Reuters.

“We all know the defence budget has increased by 2%. Having a stake in the contractors means that Ms Inada will benefit directly,” Mr Nagy told the South China Morning Post.

"Perfect Origin"

However, Associate Professor Nagy also pointed out that the increase in Japan's defense budget was due to China's increasingly assertive actions. This was decided by Tokyo before Ms. Inada took the helm of the Ministry of Defense.

In addition, Ms. Inada is a respected minister within Japan's conservative faction. "She has a perfect background and is one of only three female ministers. Prime Minister Abe will certainly support her to become prominent, giving Inada more confidence over the years," Mr. Nagy commented.

Last week, Japan's defense minister made a "greeting" visit to her American counterpart, Ashton Carter. Speaking in Washington, Ms. Inada displayed a friendly style but still expressed a tough stance.

She declared that Japan is ready to participate in naval training and exercises with the US and countries in the East Sea.

According to Zing