Officer blew whistle on illegal acts before false charges against Japan machinery maker

The Mainichi

3 days ago

TOKYO -- A Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) investigator reported illegal acts by officers during an investigation of Japanese chemical machinery maker Ohkawara Kakohki Co. in March 2020, five days before company officials were indicted on false charges, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned.
The Public Security Bureau investigator made the report to the police's inspection section, but the latter apparently did not respond, allowing the investigation to move forward.
It marks the first revelation that problems with the investigation had been communicated to the MPD's inspection section prior to the executives' indictment.
3 problems sparking the whistleblowing
In an investigation report over the false charges case released by the MPD on Aug. 7, the department attributed the problem to the Public Security Bureau's dysfunctional leadership. The latest findings have revealed that the MPD's inspection section was also not functioning, raising skepticism over the force's governance.
The MPD investigator briefed the Mainichi on the whistleblowing report. The Public Security Bureau's First Foreign Affairs Division arrested the president and two others belonging to Ohkawara Kakohki on March 11, 2020, on suspicion of exports violating of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act. The investigator said they called the first personnel affairs division, of which the inspection section is a part, on the morning of March 26, 15 days after the arrests, to file the anonymous report.
The report was about issues with interrogations at the time of the arrest of Junji Shimada, 72, a former Ohkawara Kakohki executive. Specifically, the investigator pointed out three issues: Shinsuke Asaka, the then inspector who interrogated Shimada, scrapped a deposition that included the suspect's admission or denial of guilt; while this surfaced on March 24 in testimony by a sergeant present at the interrogation, Asaka told the sergeant, "Keep quiet as it would be a big deal if this was made public"; senior officials at the First Foreign Affairs Division were scrambling to cover up the entire episode.
Normally, internal disposals of depositions are treated as "document accidents," and are investigated. If the inspector had intentionally scrapped the deposition, they could be charged with damaging documents for government use.
The whistleblower says they communicated these problems in an about 20-minute phone call, and added, "Unless the MPD makes a move now, prosecutors will indict (the company executives)," noting that the detention period for the trio was due to expire on March 31. An officer on the other end of the line replied, "I will report it to my superior."
No contact from HR
The whistleblower hung up after sharing their private email address with the personnel affairs section official to allow for further communication.
Five and a half hours after the report, the investigator sent an email to the first personnel affairs division, writing, "I am the one who called this morning. I am sending this email just in case." However, the investigator has since received no reply from the division, nor were there any signs of the division checking with the First Foreign Affairs Division over the issue.
The inspector in question compiled a report on March 25 that year stating that the deposition was thrown away through "negligence." The First Foreign Affairs Division also concluded that the case was attributable to negligence and did not question the inspector. If the MPD's inspection section had acted on the issue, the investigation could have been reviewed and the indictment could have been avoided, but the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office indicted the president and two others on March 31.
Tokyo High Court recognizing investigation as 'illegal'
In July the following year, the prosecutors' office abruptly revoked the trio's indictment, saying that "suspicions have arisen over the content of the charges." It was just four days before the first court hearing. In response, Ohkawara Kakohki filed a state compensation suit, and the Tokyo High Court ruled in May 2025 that the investigation had been illegal, stating, "There were basic issues with the (investigators') judgment regarding the establishment of a crime." The ruling has since been finalized.
During the state redress trial, the Shimada interrogation that had spurred the whistleblowing report became a point of contention. According to the ruling, the inspector in question deceived Shimada, who was denying the illegal export allegations, and created a deposition stating that he had admitted to the charges. After Shimada checked the content of the deposition and protested, the inspector shredded the document.
The court ruled that the creation of the deposition was "illegal as it employed deceptive methods." The verdict pointed out that "it was inconceivable that (the deposition) would be disposed of so easily," which aligned with the assessment of the Public Security Bureau, and that the MPD's claims that the document was scrapped due to negligence was "unnatural."
Regarding the deposition's disposal, a committee for the inquest of prosecution ruled in February that it was unreasonable not to indict the inspector. While the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office once again dropped charges against the inspector over suspected damaging of documents for government use, it has launched an investigation into charges of the creation and use of false official documents with seals in connection with the creation of the report stating that the deposition was scrapped due to negligence.
Upon an inquiry by the Mainichi, the MPD responded, "Due to the nature of whistleblowing report, we will refrain from answering based on the assumption of either that it took place or that it did not."