30 Billion Won Spent on 17 Overseas Trips... Japanese Local Governor's 'High-Cost Trips' Under Fire

Governor Hattori Spends 450 Million Won Just on Paris Visit
"Overseas activities have achieved some results"
Likely to refrain from overseas travels for the next year

Controversy is growing over the frequent overseas trips taken by Seitaro Hattori, governor of Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan, which are being labeled as “high-cost leisure trips.” Governor Hattori has stated that he will have the appropriateness of his overseas trips verified by a third-party committee composed of external experts, but it remains uncertain whether this will resolve the controversy.

According to Kyodo News on the 24th, Governor Hattori held a press conference that day and announced that he would establish a third-party committee to objectively review the purposes, cost-effectiveness, and validity of the overseas trips he has taken so far.

Seitaro Hattori, governor of Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan, is explaining at the prefectural office on the 24th about the controversy over his frequent overseas trips being labeled as 'high-cost leisure trips.' Photo by Yonhap News

According to data recently released by Fukuoka Prefecture, from November 2022 to May of this year, Governor Hattori made a total of 17 trips to 14 different countries and regions over roughly three and a half years. The total budget spent on these trips amounted to 337.32 million yen (approximately 3.02 billion won). In particular, 50.3 million yen (about 450 million won) was spent on a visit to Paris, France in November last year, and 49.29 million yen (441 million won) was spent on a trip to Hawaii in April 2023, leading to criticism over excessive budget spending.

Governor Hattori stated, “I believe our overseas activities have achieved some results. However, it will be difficult to gain the understanding of our residents if I continue with overseas trips before the third-party committee’s objective evaluation is released.” He explained that he will refrain from overseas travel for the next year.

The third-party committee, recommended by the Fukuoka Bar Association, is scheduled to be launched in August. The committee plans to investigate not only the appropriateness of overseas trips but also allegations that senior prefectural officials improperly provided political funds to the prefectural assembly speaker and others through unofficial gatherings.

Until now, Fukuoka Prefecture maintained an internal investigation policy, arguing that external investigations take too much time. However, Governor Hattori stated, “Speed is important, but fairness and transparency are above all necessary in this case,” adding, “In order to restore the residents’ trust, I chose a verification process that is focused on procedural fairness.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.