Why is the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in Charge of Broadcasting Administration?

■Why is the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in Charge of Broadcasting Administration?

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is going through turbulent times. It was formed 20 years ago during a restructuring of ministries and agencies through a merger of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Management and Coordination Agency. It is evident that having communications and broadcasting together under one umbrella with the post office is a problem, which also begs the question how administration of these different areas should be organized.  

20 years ago, before I left Kasumigaseki, my job involved merging the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications into the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. While I was responsible for communication and broadcasting administration, not the post office, I have also kept tabs on the administration following the restructuring. 

Since the restructuring 20 years ago, I have been advocating for further restructuring. 10 years ago, I openly advocated for a Ministry of Culture when I became concerned about the Democratic Party’s vision for a Japanese version of the FCC. 

The set proposal for IT Headquarters + Intellectual Property Headquarters + Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (Communications and Broadcasting) + Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry IT information + Agency for Cultural Affairs is similar to the “Ministry of Information, Economy and Social Affairs (Ministry of Digital Economy) proposed by the Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) in May 2018. I make no claims to any copyright because the proposed ministry name is different, but my proposed name is better. 

Prior to that discussion, why was the communication and broadcasting administration of the former Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications restructured into an internal subdivision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Telecommunications. There is virtually no one still active in the government who knows what happened 20 years ago. It’s like a statute of limitations. Even my own memories are starting to fade. Now that questions are being asked again in government offices, I think it is a good idea to share my thoughts and memories, to make them a matter of record.

Let’s travel back to 1997 during the Ryutaro Hashimoto cabinet. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, which resolved the partition of NTT, was adamantly declaring that the next step should be an overhaul of NHK. On the other hand, the Cabinet decided that its key focus should be the restructuring of ministries. As the principal assistant of the General Affairs Division of the Secretariat, I saw a big storm coming on the horizon, so I volunteered to take charge of the ministry restructuring project as general manager of the whole ministry’s operations. 

The Administrative Reform Council discussed the restructuring of ministries and issued an interim report in August. 22 government ministries would be reduced to 12. At that time, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications turned communication and broadcasting administration into an independent committee and relegated postal business to a service agency and privatized it. Both administration and business were therefore cut out of the government and so the restructuring of the ministries and agencies led to the effective demolition of Japan Post. 

Concerned while writing the interim report, I though “That’s how it is” and resigned myself to the fact that we would be turning NTT into an enemy and preparing for NHK. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry would continue its 15 year war with IT and the Ministry of Finance its 100 year war with Postal Savings. I felt crushed. The mirror reflecting us is blurry. It’s been a losing battle. Confirmed. The position was just how to keep fighting the good fight.

On the day of the interim report, two executives from the communications administration gave me a call. “It’s your responsibility (secretariat). You need to resign immediately.” That’s the way it is. Another top official said, “Heaven helps those who help themselves.” Hmm. Noted. Do not let yourself panic or sink, do the things that help you, and then decide to move forward or backward. 

Opinions within the ministry were neatly divided in three. The director level was with the Ministry of Industry and Communications merger with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, trying to position communication as industrial policy. The section manager level was for the Ministry of Transport as the “Ministry of Transport and Communications,” trying to position communication as infrastructure, a resurrection plan for the Ministry of Communications. Younger members under the assistant section chief went for the newly established “Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications” based around the view that communication is a horizontally divided original policy genre. 

However, the two previously mentioned communications administrations (which later rose to top government offices) shared the opinion that the only way to succeed would be to surreptitiously slip into the internal bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. I agreed with this. “We’ll take the initiative ourselves to slip this into the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. You from the secretariat should wave the flag of transportation,” was what they said at the time. 

In any event, it was necessary for the secretariat to assert its position within the government and work together as an organization. First, at the director’s orders, we consulted with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. However, it proved problematic for the other party to go straight to the secretariat of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and so I asked the late Akihiro Sawa, the general manager of the general affairs department of the Institute of Technology (currently AIST) to contact them via a covert messenger.

Mr. Sawa’s answer was clear. “The communication and broadcasting administration are fine, but if the postal service is involved, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry will refuse. It’s like dealing with some huge religious organization.” I brought this back to the ministry and the merger plan with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry fell apart. The words “religious organization” proved persuasive to the executives at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. 

The next move was to seek a merger with the Ministry of Transport, which led to many discussions. The Ministry of Transport, which had already been instructed by the administrative reform council to merge with the Ministry of Construction, was seriously considering the merger. As it seemed sound politically, the top brass at the LDP launched a signing campaign and so I followed their instructions to collect signatures of lawmakers, gathering approximately 300. 

If such an initiative were to come to life, the heart of the Hashimoto administration would not have been happy. It was a rebellion but among “guerrillas” in the postal service there was a faint expectation that even if we incurred their wrath, their solution would not be to crush the service again. I didn’t really have a view, but I tried. 

The political settlement came in December. As a result of discussions between Prime Minister Hashimoto and Hiromu Nonaka, who was a big shot at the postal service, as well as telecommunications executives working behind the scenes, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications was separated into two internal subdivisions. 

We only had one room at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications but we thought it would be better to expect a large presence. Before I began at the ministry, there was only one communications administration room, neither a department nor a bureau, with just two departments. These became three departments that year: communications, broadcasting and policy. With just one room, building for the future was possible.   

However, the settlement could only be reached via reducing the previous 3 departments into 2, with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications being brought in from the fringes of Kasumigaseki to the center within the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. In comparison to the plan to remove it from the government, it turned out to be a tough battle to win. 

It was not just a tug of war; the points to be decided regarding policy theory were important. Giving independence to telecommunications broadcasting was really a plan that would involve the administration giving away their authority. This worried me greatly. Would it really be okay to eliminate political control in this area? Maybe Japan’s politics or administrative bodies had not matured sufficiently for this. Mr. Nonaka agreed with me. 

Independence from political and government authority, as with the American FCC or the FTC, gives bureaucrats freedom. There is no need for industry policy or government back-room negotiations. For these reasons, there were voices within the department advocating independence. I thought this was dangerous and persisted in opposing the short-cut proposal for independence. 

As a result, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications cut in and settled the merger between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Management and Coordination Agency. Because I was working against the administration, I ended up falling on my sword. Yes, that’s right. I submitted my resignation, but my bosses (maybe around 6 of them) did not quit, so the government office was in trouble.

At the time, I was left with no choice but to ask the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications for permission to resign as assistant section manager. Shozaburo Jimi, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, was amused and gave me some shochu, which I drank right away. 

After the restructuring, Yoshihide Suga, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, re-expanded the 2 communications broadcasting departments to 3, which has continued to this day.  

After the move into the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, I have been satisfied with how the communications broadcasting administration has been doing. However, the importance of IT has outstripped the Ministry’s capacity, making it a top policy priority along with data strategy that spreads horizontally across all administration departments. This is seen in the fact that the Cabinet Secretariat and Cabinet Office have increased their numbers in response to IT policy. 

Based on all of this, what it is to be done in the next administrative restructuring? Shouldn’t we get working on setting the agenda sooner rather than later?