Editorial: Failure of civilian control exposed as scandals hit Japan’s Defense Ministry

It has emerged that four members of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force who were illicitly receiving diving-related allowances were arrested in November last year by an internal investigative unit on suspicion of fraud. Yet this was not immediately reported to Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, who oversees Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF). This is a serious state of affairs exposing neglect for civilian control, where politicians, as civilians, are supposed to have control over the SDF.

When Kihara was first briefed at the ministry about the fraudulent allowances on July 5 this year, the information was only mentioned in a document footnote, and he was informed of the arrests only after they came to light during a meeting of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan on July 18.

According to the Ministry of Defense, disciplinary action is supposed to be reported, but there was no requirement to report all arrests. The ministry says it had no intention to cover up the arrests, but the stance of not reporting such a significant incident to the top official diverges greatly from the public’s perceptions.

Ideally, the arrests should have been reported immediately. It is only natural that Kihara stated during a review held while the Diet was out of session that the failure to do so was “very problematic from the perspective of civilian control.”

Civilian control is a fundamental principle adopted by democratic nations. In Japan, the Cabinet and the Diet, which acts as the people’s representative, take on the role of overseeing the SDF. This stance is grounded in reflection over the former Japanese military’s out-of-control actions during World War II. The latest incident amounts to a betrayal of public trust.

A similar failure occurred in 2017, when then Defense Minister Tomomi Inada was incorrectly informed that daily logs on peacekeeping operations in South Sudan had already been destroyed. Criticism over a lack of civilian control erupted at the time, but it seems the lessons learned from that incident have not been applied.

The Defense Ministry’s stance of making light of the Diet is also problematic. Besides the illicit receipt of diving allowances, over 200 people in the SDF were punished over the improper handling of specially designated secrets related to national security. Yet it was not until July this year, after the regular session of the Diet had closed, that the series of scandals was announced.

Kihara denied that he would resign, but he bears a heavy responsibility for failing to properly lead the organization. The incident also calls into question the leadership of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as the SDF’s commander-in-chief.

As the security environment changes and the SDF’s scope of activities expands, leaving organizational laxness unaddressed could compromise the forces’ mission. The government must thoroughly enforce civilian control and work to restore public trust.