{"id":547212,"date":"2026-07-18T06:12:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T06:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/547212\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T06:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T06:12:16","slug":"backlash-in-japan-over-fukuoka-officials-costly-overseas-research-trips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/547212\/","title":{"rendered":"Backlash in Japan over Fukuoka officials\u2019 costly overseas \u2018research trips\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Officials in <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/japan?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Japan<\/a>\u2019s southwestern prefecture of Fukuoka are facing growing scrutiny over a series of overseas \u201cresearch trips\u201d that included stays in Paris and London and millions of yen in hotel upgrades, as public frustration builds over political spending during a period of rising household costs.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The controversies have put pressure on Governor Seitaro Hattori and the local chapter of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Fukuoka, one of Japan\u2019s most important regional governments and the economic centre of the country\u2019s southwest.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Hattori expressed \u201cregret\u201d at a press conference on Tuesday, saying that \u201cestablished practice\u201d had not been followed in the planning of 23 overseas trips since 2021.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The prefectural government, which confirmed it had spent 337 million yen (US$2.08 million) on the excursions, including hotel upgrades, has promised to \u201creview long-standing customs\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The local government is dominated by elected LDP representatives, which is still trying to recover from a <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/asia\/east-asia\/article\/3257867\/japans-ruling-ldp-punishes-39-members-over-political-funds-scandal-urges-2-quit-party?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">slush-fund scandal<\/a> that gripped the party at the national level in 2023.<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Governor Seitaro Hattori of Fukuoka prefecture. Photo: Wiki\/Cabinet Office Regional Revitalisation Promotion Office\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e2a6e66b-c0c4-41b7-a8eb-d67dc279c6bc_76ac71bb.jpg\" title=\"Governor Seitaro Hattori of Fukuoka prefecture. Photo: Wiki\/Cabinet Office Regional Revitalisation Promotion Office\"\/>Governor Seitaro Hattori of Fukuoka prefecture. Photo: Wiki\/Cabinet Office Regional Revitalisation Promotion Office<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Analysts say countless incidents of politicians taking pricey overseas trips at taxpayers\u2019 expense have occurred in recent decades, but argue that the Fukuoka case may be landing harder because many people across Japan are struggling with higher prices for food and other essentials while wages have largely remained static.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Officials in Japan\u2019s southwestern prefecture of Fukuoka are facing growing scrutiny over a series of overseas \u201cresearch trips\u201d&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[114,8894,179438,248605,248608,85,46,1437,35345,442,5368,248606,248609,248607,151865,240388,1880],"class_list":["post-547212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-eiffel-tower","tag-fukuoka","tag-fukuoka-governor","tag-hyogo","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-japan","tag-liberal-democratic-party","tag-london","tag-paris","tag-ryutaro-nonomura","tag-seitaro-hattori","tag-sophia-university","tag-temple-university","tag-this-week-in-asia","tag-tokyo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}