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On Jan 22, police sent prosecutors documents on a National Police Agency official who allegedly threw a tray at a woman working at a security check at an airport last year, after being told that one of his belongings was not allowed aboard a plane.
The incident happened on Dec 24, when Superintendent Takayuki Masuda, 36, assistant chief of the NPA’s Personnel Division, was stopped by the woman at the baggage inspection area at Narita International Airport near Tokyo as he was trying to take aboard cosmetics in a 150-milliliter container. Masuda demanded that the woman allow him to take the cosmetics, saying that he was ‘‘a superintendent at the National Police Agency’’ and threw a tray used at the security check counter at her.
According to an official of the airport security authority, Masuda not only got mad at the security check woman but also shouted at airport police officers, “I'm an NPA official. I'm different from you!” he was heard to shout.
The airport security official says Masuda finally apologized after a senior police officer calmed him down. Then Masuda was released and left for Germany.
What major newspapers and TV didn't report is that Masuda was traveling to Germany together with a cabin attendant in her late 20s, even though he is married to a TV journalist who covers the police beat.
It was possibly Masuda's wife who was the most surprised by the news. A TV news reporter who knows her says, “She is in a leadership position on her team and she has lots of friends in the NPA. She must have been informed of the news about her husband faster than anybody. Even NPA officials who know her tried not to make her feel worse regarding the fact her husband was traveling with the cabin attendant.”
One of 540 NPA officials who direct 290,000 police officers nationwide, Masuda graduated from Keio University, unlike most NPA officials who are graduates of Tokyo University. He worked at a private company for three years. Then, he was recruited the NPA at the age of 27 in 2000.
In an interview with the Sankei newspaper in 2000, Masuda said on behalf of other new officials, “I feel regret about all the scandals involving police officers. It is my goal to maintain public safety in Japan.” In 2005, he married his wife whom he knew in college.
An NPA official says Masuda is an enormously proud man. “He is one of the proudest officials at the NPA and very strict toward his subordinates and lower-ranked officials. He must have been pissed off to be told what to do by the airport security official. I think he was too angry to foresee what would happen if the incident got picked up by the media.”
Another NPA career official says: “He didn't report his overseas travel to the NPA, which is obligatory for NPA officials. That alone warrants an admonitory warning. His assault against the airport security staff and the fact that he was apparently fooling around meant that he would be fired for eroding public confidence in government officials.”
The NPA dragged its feet and took three weeks to make final decision on Masuda. Some say the NPA tried to hide the incident from the public. A spokesperson for the NPA said before they announced the punishment for Masuda, “We always take action against officials whose behavior is illegal and inappropriate as public servants.” (Translated by Taro Fujimoto)
© Japan Today
33 Comments
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oreoreda
Couldn't have happened to a better man.
Sarge
"I'm different from you!"
I thought that was former PM Fukuda's line...
Anyway, yeah, that's for sure. The security worker is obviously well-mannered.
shouganaika
too bad, now he can piss off
ronaldk
there is hope
herefornow
So bloody typical of Japan -- "Most NPA officials who are graduates of Tokyo University". The government and the bureaucracies don't operate for the benefit of the people who pay their salaries. The operate only for their own personal benefit and advancement, because they are "different" based on where the went to college. I thought the caste system only existed in India. The fact that the citizens put up with this crap is criminal.
telecasterplayer
No possibility for conflicts of interest there, huh?
Beelzebub
At a US airport he would have been Tasered. At the very least, they should have taken him to a cubicle and examined his bodily orifices before allowing him to board.
techall
"Pissed off": not a phrase you normally see in print journalism as a quote from a government official.
anshin
An NPA official says Masuda is an enormously proud man. That, and utter stupidity will cost him dearly.
NuckinFutz
"eroding public confidence in government officials.” Guess what NPA, there's nothing to ERODE! They should have tasered him until he wet himself and then cuffed and stuffed him!
pointofview
Most of them are "BIMBOS."
nandakandamanda
Come on guys, give the guy a break. He was carrying her facescrub for his girlfriend, and had probably assured her it would be fine, and he obviously didn't want to lose face in front of her.
Helly
Good! Now fire all the other useless fat j-cops!
Suck it Matsuda!
techall
Yeah, "Don't worry honey, I'm important, I gan get that on the plane for you." If she was a cabin attendant, she had a better chance of getting it on the plane. MORON!!!!
Dennis Bauer
The japanese gold standard by far!
TokyoToday
It is interesting that, even after all he did, Mr. Masuda was allowed to go through and board a plane. I wonder if the same thing would have happened if he were not an NPA official. I also strongly suspect that if he were Chinese, Nigerian, or Pakistani the intervening "senior police officer" would not have just "calmed him down".
The especially troubling part is that Mr. Masuda's job was to supervise the police. How many legitimate citizen complaints did he overlook or cover up because of his belief that the police are "different from" us?
Statistician
Enormously something anyway. 'Dumb' might be a better word.
Badge213
While I don't agree with his actions, a lot of these no liquid policies at airports are just ridiculous, and is nothing more then security theatre then actual "security". I can "understand" why he might of blown his top.
electric2004
Last time at Narita security check, I went through with my hand-luggage on the belt, and when I received it back, I noticed I had forgotten to take out the transparent bag with the liquids and toothpaste.
Nobody cared. No problem.
sensei258
When I went through a bag search at Narita, the Inspector was very polite. He wore white gloves and asked politely if he could search my carry on. He even treated my dirty laundry as if it were important. Then he repacked my bag for me, folding my dirty clothes! I still brag about how polite the man was (didn't get his name) when the topic comes up. About the NPA official, I would like to know his wife's reaction, and his excuse to her when he got home.
Molenir
He'd better have had a damn good one, otherwise he should be receiving papers already.
MokiDugway
"Proud." So that's what they are calling A-holes these days...
OssanAmerica
Yes he is different. They still have their jobs. This is how he handles an affair sneaking off with a stewardess? What a moron. Hope he gets fired. And dumped. Mrs Masuda you can probably do better.
nisegaijin
Well, I kinda understand him. I almost had the same reaction in Sydney airport when they told my gf to throw away nail scissors from her cosmetics bag. The blade wasn't even 1cm long. Bunch of friggin porch monkeys...
ultradodgy
File this under "Tip of the Iceberg"
These guys are nuts. How do you change the culture of an entire organization like the NPA? Not easy... but I hope it happens before these guys really wig out.
Samuraiiki
Japan could be best described as "Alienation country" at is best. Where government officials are there to serve themselves from their citizens rather than them serving their citizens.
GW
nise
sorry man thats just daft thinking you can board a plane with scissors in yr bag, where have you been hiding the last several years?
Hope you werent as proud as this jerk matsuda
realist
Oh me, oh my - and this guy was the Assistant Chief of the Personnel Division? Of course, a graduate of Keio, too, as was his poor wife. Yet, he had the attitude that because of his position he could do what he liked, and flaunt the stupid rules that ther rest of us have to comply with. He deserves all he gets. I wonder were the "cosmetics" intended for his Flight Attendant bit on the side while they were on their little romantic getaway?
cow76
Excellent news. I love it when complete douchebags lose what is most precious to them, in this case, job, wife, respect and probably, girlfriend. Thanks JT! More ghoulishness please!
gogogo
No wonder police can't do their jobs they blow up all the time over anything and are more concerned about their power position than the job. I guess that could be said about all cops actually.
Potsu
So many of these types in this country...just because he went to Keio?? How backward and childish.
fds
the rule is stupid to begin with but gotta give airport security credit for standing up to this a--hole.