TEHRAN, March 15 -Figuring out who is to blame in a widening political scandal that threatens Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is being complicated by a practice known as “sontaku”, which loosely translates as “following unspoken orders”.
TEHRAN,Young Journalists Club (YJC) -Figuring out who is to blame in a widening political scandal that threatens Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is being complicated by a practice known as “sontaku”, which loosely translates as “following unspoken orders”.
Abe and Finance Minister Taro Aso are under fire after the ministry released altered documents related to the discounted sale of state-owned land to a school operator with ties to Abe’s wife, raising the possibility of a cover-up.
Abe has denied wrongdoing by himself or his wife and Aso has denied instructing any cover-up.
Strictly speaking, that could be true if the officials involved in the land deal and altering the related documents engaged in “sontaku”, by attempting to surmise their superiors’ wishes and acting without explicit directions.
“The invoking of implicit expectations is a wonderful way to shirk responsibility,” said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University’s Japan campus.
“Superiors can say, ‘I didn’t order it,’ and those lower down can say, ‘I’m following orders,’ so the buck stops nowhere.”
Source:Reuters
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