Okumura and Naito

August 25, 2014

Political Pulse: Those who accuse, those who are accused

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20140825p2a00m0na008000c.html

There are people who accuse others of wrongdoing, and people who admit to wrongdoing.

Hiroshi Okumura, 84, who specializes in research on private companies, has for decades called into question electric power companies' reliance on nuclear power through their collusion with the political world and the bureaucracy.

Chimori Naito, 91, former vice president of Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO), recently told the Asahi Shimbun daily about the firm's behind-the-scenes efforts to curry favor with the political world and bureaucrats over the promotion of atomic power. He then admitted that the industry's collusion with politicians and bureaucrats was problematic and urged that Japan reconsider its dependence on nuclear power. (The Asahi Shimbun ran a series of 14 stories on the matter in its morning edition beginning on July 28, 2014, and released the video of an interview with Naito.)

Naito, who had ignored Okumura's criticism and actively promoted nuclear power (KEPCO's rate of dependence on atomic power is the largest of all nine major regional utilities), finally changed his mind.

Some skeptics speculate that Naito fabricated the story as someone who lost a power struggle within the company, while others speculate that it was just an old man acting delusional. However, fragments of Naito's testimony show an aspect of his dignity as a behind-the-scenes fixer and his convincing personality.

The government's nuclear power policy appears completely unaffected by his testimony on the surface. Still, what he said will likely win sympathy from the public and help reinforce the undercurrent of moves to end Japan's dependence on atomic power.

Okumura and Naito have close connections with each other even though they are not personally acquainted.

The Sept. 12, 1986 issue of the weekly magazine Asahi Journal (which ceased publication in 1992) ran a story headlined, "KEPCO -- a black continent." It was one of the installments in a series on Japanese companies. The article uncovered KEPCO's personnel appointments made behind closed doors through the "reigns of terror" by then honorary president Yoshihige Ashihara (now deceased) and Naito.

The article was written by Okumura, who was then professor at Ryukoku University.

How Okumura obtained the information based on which he wrote the story is interesting. He asked KEPCO for an interview, only to be rejected. After he repeatedly contacted the company, he received a phone call from a woman who called herself the wife of a KEPCO employee. The woman told Okumura that Naito was meeting with an influential member of a right-wing organization at a high-class restaurant. She provided him with further detailed information on the matter.

The story based on such specific information was convincing, prompting the KEPCO board to dismiss Ashihara and Naito at a Feb. 26, 1987 meeting.

Naito had kept silent about the scandal, but admitted in the interview with the Asahi that the company paid the ultra-rightist and some antisocial forces to settle the firm's disputes.

Okumura worked as a staff writer at the economic news department of the Sankei Shimbun daily's Osaka office for nine years after graduating from Okayama University's faculty of law and literature in 1953. He reportedly sat just behind Teiichi Fukuda, then associate editor at the paper's cultural news department, who is known as novelist Ryotaro Shiba.

From the time he became a journalist, Okumura was particularly interested in Japan's industrial structure and corporate groups. After working at a think-tank, he became professor at Ryukoku University and then at Chuo University, conducting research on huge private companies.

Okumura says private corporations sped up their expansion in the latter half of the 20th century, particularly after the 1970s. The influence of labor unions has weakened while executives' control over their companies has strengthened. As a result, uncontrollable and irresponsible giant organizations that place profits above anything else played a central role in capitalism.

Okumura views the bailout of General Motors (GM) that relied on U.S. taxpayers' money and the current situation of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) that has failed to bring the Fukushima nuclear crisis under control despite an infusion of public funds as examples of the ailing capitalism that is at the mercy of big business.

"The poor law that originated in Britain is aimed at using taxpayers' money to save the poor. But now, taxpayers' money is being used to bail out GM, TEPCO and commercial banks," Okumura laments.

Okumura insists that TEPCO should be disbanded and split into multiple entities based on economic principles. However, the government has dismissed this suggestion saying, "It's unrealistic, considering the costs of bringing the nuclear crisis under control and paying compensation to those affected by the disaster." Such being the case, there appears to be an endless effort to maintain the status quo. no end to the nuclear crisis.

In the interview with the Asahi, Naito said, "Apart from power companies, the government regulator that gives instructions to them and scholars is also at fault. They think, 'It's best to maintain the status quo.' How can progress be made?"

Twenty-seven years have passed since Okumura created a stir over Japan's reliance on atomic power and Naito was expelled from KEPCO. These two figures, whose personal history and ideas are completely different, are now insisting on the same thing. (By Takao Yamada, Expert Senior Writer)