Attributing Someone But Me

Former Governor of Tokyo and ultra-conservative politician, Shintaro Ishihara, had his first press conference over the decision of moving Tokyo Fish Wholesale Market from Tsukiji to Toyosu on Friday. To the question why he approved the location in Toyosu, where possible chemical contamination had been concerned, Ishihara argued that the decision was made not only by himself, but as a consensus of Government of Tokyo. Then top leader was not willing to take responsibility of his political decision.

Current Governor Yuriko Koike questioned the opaque process of selecting alternative place for Tsukiji Market and suspended the schedule of moving to Toyosu. The chosen land in Toyosu was formerly used by a factory of Tokyo Gas Corporation and the government detected some poisonous chemical materials in the soil. One of the big questions was why Tokyo government chose the land.

Ishihara argued in the press conference that the government had already been decided the land for building new fish market, when he took the office in 1999. “While I admit that I was the supreme authority for the approval, the decision came to me as an overall consensus of related sections in the government,” told Ishihara. Raising his shortage of specific knowledge on the issue, Ishihara explained that he relied on his staffs and followed their decision.

While Vice-Governor was negotiating with Tokyo Gas for obtaining the land, Tokyo Gas announced contamination of the land in 2001. In 2008, harmful benzene was detected from the soil in the level of forty-three thousand times higher than the safety standard. The question is why Governor Ishihara did not review the plan for building the market there. The answer of Ishihara was “I left it to my Vice-Governor.”

Despite the possibility of poison affecting to the fish market, Ishihara signed an agreement with Tokyo Gas in 2011, in which Tokyo Government abandoned warranty against defects. With that condition, Tokyo Gas would be waivered its responsibility for compensation, in case the land would not be available for the market. But, Ishihara insisted that he did not know about the warranty.

Ishihara attributed current confusion on relocation of the market to Koike’s handling. “Leaving what should be done behind, huge amount of money has been spent for compensation for the delay of schedule. It is the responsibility of Koike,” said Ishihara. Koike argued that it was easy to attribute his responsibility to someone. “If he wanted to firmly control it, he should not leave it to someone,” Koike criticized the attitude of Ishihara.