Gemba's secretary visits minister's office

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Gemba's private secretary was very close to his boss, as he was once a live-in secretary.

According to Gemba's office and other sources, the secretary started living in Gemba's house in 1996 when the secretary was a member of the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management and worked as a driver for Gemba's campaign for the 1996 House of Representatives election.

He then became a private secretary to Gemba. After later serving as a local assembly member, he became Gemba's secretary again last year and attended various events in Fukushima Prefecture as a substitute for Gemba. These included a groundbreaking ceremony for restoration of the prefecture's Soma Port damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Although the secretary was not paid to attend such events, his traveling expenses were paid by the office. When Gemba visited Fukushima Prefecture, the secretary served as his driver. The secretary also visited the foreign minister's office when he was in Tokyo, according to sources.

Meanwhile, the secretary became acquainted with the former first secretary, who was also attending the Matsushita Institute in 1999 and continued their association.

When the secretary visited China in September, the two visited exhibition facilities related to the former first secretary for promoting agricultural product exports to China. They also dined together.

According to the secretary, the former first secretary denied the charges against him, saying: "I didn't falsify my identity. I just registered as I was told to do by Japanese authorities."

The former first secretary was also quoted as saying, "I come from a research institute, and my status as a diplomat was just temporary."