An ace bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry has been shunted to a relatively minor post because he was found to be less than agreeable with those close to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
While past administrations have also stuck their noses into personnel decisions at central government ministries, such practices are almost unheard of in the Finance Ministry, long considered “the ministry of ministries” in Japan.
Jun Hitotsumatsu had been considered a future vice minister, but in personnel moves announced Aug. 7, he was moved from deputy director-general of the Budget Bureau to the head of Tokyo Customs.
In explaining the decision, a high-ranking official in the Prime Minister’s Office said of Hitotsumatsu, “He was not very cooperative with the administration.”
Hitotsumatsu joined the Finance Ministry in 1995 and previously held various posts in the Budget Bureau, which is in charge of budget compilation, as well as serving as an aide to Fumio Kishida when he was prime minister.
Ministry insiders said someone like Hitotsumatsu only comes along once in a decade, indicating he had a very bright future.
After becoming deputy director-general of the Budget Bureau in October 2025, he was placed in charge of assembling the details for a key policy measure of the Takaichi administration involving a new tax exemption program that included taxpayer benefits.
The Tokyo Customs head post was used in the past as a temporary position for the bureaucrat awaiting an opening for the vice minister’s chair.
This last occurred in 2002 and no Tokyo Customs head has become vice minister since.
Hitotsumatsu is a strong advocate of rebuilding the government’s fiscal standing and has been known for his straight-talking approach when conveying this to politicians.
One high-ranking official in the prime minister’s office said, “This may be the first setback he has experienced.”
Hitotsumatsu’s fiscal views may have rubbed Takaichi associates the wrong way, particularly as the administration moves to cut the consumption tax rate.
There was another hint that the administration wanted the Finance Ministry to toe the line.
It held up the planned promotion to vice minister of Hirotaka Unami, the Budget Bureau director-general.
While that move eventually went through, there were other personnel decisions besides Hitotsumatsu that showed the Takaichi administration was replacing Finance Ministry bureaucrats with those from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Two high-ranking Cabinet Office officials originally from the Finance Ministry are leaving, meaning no one from the finance ministry on the bureau director-general level or higher is in charge of economic policy within the Cabinet Office.
Hiroyuki Inoue is retiring from the top bureaucrat post, while Takashi Akuzawa is moving back to the Finance Ministry to become director-general of the Financial Bureau.
They are being replaced by high-ranking officials from the economy ministry who will now play leading roles in compiling macroeconomic policies for the Takaichi administration.