On July 30th, local time, the Japanese Ministry of Defense released an investigative report on a “false transaction” involving Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ use of a submarine maintenance project by the Self-Defense Forces to provide bribes to members. The report also pointed out that aside from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and other three companies had discovered similar fraudulent activities. Consequently, the Ministry of Defense has held Kawasaki Heavy Industries accountable for its supervisory responsibilities regarding the fraud, and announced disciplinary actions against relevant personnel of the Self-Defense Forces.
According to this decision, a total of 92 individuals in the Self-Defense Forces were disciplined or warned, including the highest-ranking officer of the Self-Defense Forces, Saito Tsuneo, who received a one-month salary reduction, amounting to one tenth of his salary. The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Self-Defense Forces, Tanaka Toshio, was also given a “verbal severe warning” due to “inadequate guidance” to the Chief of the Self-Defense Forces. On the evening of July 30th, Saito Tsuneo held a press conference to apologize to the relevant parties.
The Chief of the Self-Defense Forces, Saito Tsuneo, held a press conference to apologize on the evening of July 30th.
Recently, there have been frequent scandals within the Self-Defense Forces. First, in April 2024, it was revealed that there were widespread instances of non-confidential personnel at self-defense ships illegally accessing classified information. In July, it was discovered that for several years, a “submariner fraudulently claimed submarine allowances,” involving nearly 200 individuals. Also in July last year, the Ministry of Defense reported to the Liberal Democratic Party that Kawasaki Heavy Industries had been using secret funds to provide bribes such as catering to members of the Self-Defense Forces, including submariners. The scale of this funding “has exceeded 1 billion yen in a few years” and “about 200 million yen per year,” following a series of scandals. Following these revelations, Saito Tsuneo resigned as Chief of the Self-Defense Forces on July 19, 2024, with Saito Tsuneo taking over as the new Chief of the Self-Defense Forces.
On December 27th last year, the Ministry of Defense released a mid-term report on special defense investigations concerning this time period. The report found that similar behavior had begun as early as 1985 and by around 2000, three subcontractors from Kawasaki Heavy Industries were involved. These companies engaged in false transactions by falsifying purchases of one-time items such as rubber pads, and over six years from 2018 to 2023 alone, they conducted approximately 1.7 billion yen in fraudulent transactions. Some companies’ proportion of false transactions even reached 80% of the total transaction amount. It is reported that a portion of the funds embezzled through these false transactions was used for personal expenses such as dining out with Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ engineering personnel and submarine crew members, purchasing gaming consoles, fishing gear, and other private items, as well as providing tools, appliances, monitors related to work within the submarine, and shopping lists (for purchasing items) mainly for outdoor brand cold-weather gear and safety shoes. Additionally, some funds were allocated for Kawasaki Heavy Industries employees to purchase personal items, reward construction workers, and distribute profits to subcontractors. A case in the report shows that using these falsely obtained funds, Kawasaki Heavy Industries purchased approximately 1.4 million yen worth of personal items for at least 13 submariners, including golf balls, watches, and other items, with one individual receiving an item valued at 500,000 yen. Those individuals will also face further disciplinary actions.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries is one of Japan’s two major submarine manufacturing companies, along with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
The Ministry of Defense ultimately determined that in addition to Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan Maritime Joint Company (JMU), and Yokosuka Heavy Industries have also provided improper items according to the requirements of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. Meanwhile, the Maritime Self-Defense Force fabricated false construction directives to obtain the relevant funds.
Due to the Self-Defense Force’s belief that the series of issues originated from the Maritime Self-Defense Force, and considering that Kawasaki Heavy Industries did not exceed project budgets, three other companies primarily supplied equipment for vessel monitoring and chairs. Additionally, they refused requests by crew members for personal items and living supplies on board. Consequently, only severe warnings or disciplinary actions were taken, without temporarily suspending bidding qualifications.