Letter of Resignation

Another strange behavior of the Chairman of Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Katsuto Momii, was revealed. On the first day of his chairmanship, he required each of ten council members to submit letters of resignation with date blanked. That meant that the chairman could fire, by fulfilling the date, any members anytime he liked. Although Momii defended himself, asserting that it was a common exercise in private organization, that kind of arbitrary control on council members on public broadcasting corporation would not be tolerated in terms of democracy at least. This is a man unfit for the chair.

In the Committee of Internal Affairs of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, ten council members testified that they had been ordered to submit the letters and obeyed it. Momii explained his order as ordinary governance of a leader in his testimony at Budget Committee of the House on Wednesday. Well, it seems to be his ordinary behavior to generalize his idea, as he did say “Comfort women existed in every country.” Is he really right, anyway?

The President of Japan Post, also former Chairman of Toshiba Corporation, Taizo Nishimuro, denied such a habit in private corporations in Japan. “I don’t think that such behavior is general in private sectors,” told Nishimuro. Momii’s common sense seems to be Japan’s nonsense.

Former NHK Chairman once collected letters of resignation from council members. Shigeo Fukuchi wrapped up the letters in 2008, and some of the members stepped down soon after that. But it was to take responsibility of insider trade suspicion on NHK reporters then. According to Broadcasting Act, council members of NHK are appointed or discharged by the Chairman with consent of Governors. But if Chairman had letters of resignation, he does not have to get governors’ consent. Momii gathered the letter with no reason except exercising oppressive power on council members.

The episode tells Momii’s strange personality. Momii relied on the documents to cover up his inability of building consensus in a large organization. It was an effusion of his short temper when he said he would “tighten nuts and bolts of NHK.” Workers who were paralleled with parts of construction embraced strong anxiety to their new leader. Confession of council members was voluntary rebellion against despotism in a corporation. Momii did not realize that NHK had traditionally been regarded as a highly political organization.