politics

Japanese gov't overstated data on construction orders for 8 years

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So this dodgy fudging of the figures basically happened under the Abe period.

Anyone shocked?

27 ( +34 / -7 )

So shocked

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

"It was extremely regrettable. We must do everything we can to prevent a similar incident from happening again," Kishida said. Land minister Tetsuo Saito also offered an apology during the session.

Since 2013 . And ,oh no, did any companies connected to the ruling party benefit from the inflated orders? If so, can we get another apology?

12 ( +17 / -5 )

Not 8 centuries?

6 ( +12 / -6 )

A ministry official said those in charge at the time did not consider the double counting of some data as problematic.

when trying to get an accurate count of something, in what universe is counting it twice not viewed as problematic? These guys are just plain liars.

10 ( +15 / -5 )

I make a mistake for 8 days and I’d be out the door of my job. However, Japanese politicians can make mistakes for 8 years and get away with an apology……bunch of incompetent imbeciles.

18 ( +24 / -6 )

Don’t worry, All that double adding is balanced by double subtracting into your purses. lol

3 ( +9 / -6 )

Just see some bow gesture and wait for another scandal.

3 ( +9 / -6 )

The construction industry made and still makes a huge majority of Japanese economic prosperity. This included the Japanese asset bubble era. When those bureaucrats said "a decade", then it means forever because you can't simply trust them.

The current GDP and other economic figures of Japan are definitely more dubious than ever. This also explains how Japan internationally loses its prestige in the renowned stock index, MSCI.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-29/msci-deals-body-blow-to-japan-stocks-with-latest-round-of-cuts

-2 ( +6 / -8 )

But it changed its policy in fiscal 2013 and made estimates for companies that did not turn in their survey results based on the data submitted by other businesses, leading to double counting of certain figures

How can it be double counting when there were no initial figures?

More importantly there's no data on how pervasive this was . Did 5, 50 or 500 companies not submit data. Too sensatonalized for me.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Just when Abe took over the government. He's always been a crook. They should fry him for this and a lot of other crimes he's committed.
9 ( +12 / -3 )

Oh, but they used the latest technology to gather the data from thousands of sources - FAX machines. I wonder if that could have been a reason though... unfair to blame the venerable workhorses, churning out sheet after sheet of printed paper to the best of their abilities... may their empty cartridges and worn out printer heads rest in peace.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

counting is not something the J-Government has a very good grasp of. But they can tell you how much an envelope containing ¥100,000 weighs, and that is not much on their mind.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

You don't say....when will people stop voting for these clowns?

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Oh no, this is not going to help my mistrust of any data released by any institution or company in this country. Be it unemployment rate, economic index

4 ( +7 / -3 )

“You don't say....when will people stop voting for these clowns?”

we will… and vote other clowns into office. What an article rich of material for JP bashing :)

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Maybe if they simplified their counting system, that would solve the problem. I mean, who the heck knows how many zeroes are in a 兆 (cho) or an 億 (oku) anyway?

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

"Japanese Government" = LDP

The LDP is Japan's curious and corrupt government that is neither Liberal nor Democratic and it's only a Party for a select few.

3 ( +9 / -6 )

Send them back to elementary math class.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

That actually sounds like a financial fraud of epic proportions.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

If you are Japanese you know how this works.

Basically be corrupt or evil or whatever it is you please.

After many years of self enrichment or criminal behavior you strategically confess to one carefully chosen thing.

Rather than it leaking out and exposing you, you pretend you are cleaning house.

Since its a one party state and the heads of most departments (ministry of justice, the police…) are LDP, well you simply get to do what we do best.

Take a bow

5 ( +9 / -4 )

The Japanese government overstated monthly data on construction orders for about eight years

Of course they did. I don't expect anything less of these corrupt expletives.

Led by the charlatan himself, Shinzo Abe, who had the uncanny knack of attracting countless corrupt politicians into his cabinet. Let's not forget that Abe has his own personal dossier of corrupt activities, including the Moritomo scandal that put Toshio Akagi, a Finance Official, under so much pressure that the poor man killed himself.

Will anything happen...to anyone? Of course not. They've all got each other's backs. More scandals will be uncovered years from now, and will be proof that corrupt activities were going on right now, tomorrow, and the day after. These deep, regretful bows mean nothing.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

"Japanese Government" = LDP

The LDP is Japan's curious and corrupt government that is neither Liberal nor Democratic and it's only a Party for a select few.

The power in Japanese politics is in fact more plural. Most notably non-elected bureaucrats often play critical roles in decision-making processes.

It should be noted that the ministerial position of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has long been designated for and occupied by lawmakers from Komeito, the junior partner of the ruling coalition government. It seems a tacit agreement with the LDP. The data scandal has concurred during Komeito reign on the ministry.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

can I not declare my income for 8 yrs so I can pay low taxes, I promise I will do a deep bow with sincere apologise when caught, you can even take 2 months of my salary as punishment. As that seems like the normal amends for breaking tax laws in Japan

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Padding the numbers to look good on the international stage is fraud.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Its all lies !

The Japanese government wants you to believe they made a mistake or miscalculation.

It's deception so they can keep everyone in a headspin.

Kishida is playing his role perfectly.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

The only country I trust whether it’s Covid or economic statistics in Asia is South Korea because they have a relatively free press. I don’t trust the Japanese politicians, North Koreans or CCP they’re pretty much the same thing

2 ( +8 / -6 )

BurakuminDes

So this dodgy fudging of the figures basically happened under the Abe period.

Under Abe, the officials changed some public records to fend off Abe's critics and that resulted in a tragic death of a person who was forced to change the records!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

If I count my cash twice do I have double the amount-I think not….

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

A ministry official said those in charge at the time did not consider the double counting of some data as problematic.

why is the ministry official not charged with fraud? he's basically cooking the books!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

we will… and vote other clowns into office. What an article rich of material for JP bashing :)

You're implying we can vote. That's cute.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It is reasonable to believe that the COVID-19 infection numbers before and after the Olympics are probably misleading, too! Abe's whole time in office has been misleading!!! More scandals are coming out. Has anyone notice that Abe did not make another appearance in the media this week, while the scandals are coming out? He does not wan people to remember that he was connected.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Nice Kishida!

This is him giving Abe's faction a kick in the butts due to all that anti-China controversies recently.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

-two-year period required for such records to be kept.

Two years? Seriously?

I have every record for my business back to its inception. Governments typically archive stuff permanently for academic and historical research and long-term statistical analysis.

The consequences of this statistical failure may not be that game-changing, but it does suggest institutionalised incompetence or malfeasance. And according to the article, this is not the first time something like this has happened.

The multi-year nature of it matches the similarly long-lasting corporate scandals in which checks were not made on products for years. I guess it is part and parcel of a tradition of keeping your head down and not rocking the boat.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

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