{"id":108,"date":"2026-05-04T06:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T06:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/?p=108"},"modified":"2026-07-14T04:41:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T04:41:41","slug":"%e8%87%aa%e6%ae%ba%e6%9c%aa%e9%81%82%e8%80%85%e3%82%92%e4%ba%8c%e5%90%8d%e5%87%ba%e3%81%97%e3%81%a6%e3%81%aa%e3%81%8a%e3%80%8c%e5%af%be%e9%9d%a2%e8%aa%bf%e6%9f%bb%e3%82%92%e3%81%8a%e9%a1%98%e3%81%84","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/archives\/108","title":{"rendered":"An inspector who, despite two suicide attempts, kept repeating, \"Please conduct an in-person investigation.\""},"content":{"rendered":"
Emergency Whistleblowing<\/strong><\/td>Investigation and Monitoring Report<\/strong><\/td>Scheduled release of the recording<\/strong><\/td>Free Labor Union Communication<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

World's First Free Labor Union \"National Tax Union\" Emergency Report<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why can Chief Investigator Hiroshi Oka and Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau Director Atsushi Kitamura, who directs him, \"not read\" the Act on the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At Fukuoka Airport, a psychiatric patient who was exposed to the public and whose condition worsened had their medical certificate ignored and the doctor's prohibition order trampled upon, while officials merely and mechanically repeated, \"Please undergo an in-person investigation.\" There is no prior consideration, nor is there any subsequent care. Even when pressed, they cannot answer. This is not \"administration.\" It is a systemic accident in which coercive power is wielded in the absence of reading comprehension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporting and Composition: National Tax Union Editorial Department \/ Supervision: Tax Investigation Specialized Team \/ Category: Illegality Monitoring Series of Tax Investigations<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau #Hiroshi Oka #Atsushi Kitamura #Act on the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities #Reasonable Accommodation #State Compensation #Audio Release<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction: The trade-off of coercive power is being \"recorded and exposed.\"<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Article 3, Paragraph 1, Item 14 of the Administrative Procedure Act stipulates that investigations of criminal tax offenses are exempt from the provisions of that Act (the obligation to state reasons, hearings, and procedural guarantees for adverse dispositions). In other words, a tax investigation is the exercise of extremely naked coercive power, where even the minimum safety device known as the Administrative Procedure Act does not operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, where lies the check against this naked power? There is only one answer.It is citizen-recorded, public, and organized surveillance.<\/strong>As a trade-off for permitting the exercise of coercive power, public servants, in the course of executing their duties, must bear the obligation to reveal their names, and must naturally endure having their statements recorded and made public. This is the bare minimum etiquette of a state governed by the rule of law. The National Tax Union is a labor union that has organized this monitoring for \"free\" for the first time in the world. Our activities have already been reported in the Nikkei, Asahi Shimbun, Nishinippon Shimbun, and other newspapers. We have promoted a politician-lobbying project demanding a legal revision for face-to-face tax audits, and have demanded the introduction of a \"dedicated representative system\" for taxpayers as well, similar to the Regional Taxation Bureau. Now, the focus of our activities is the Chief Inspector of the Third Investigation Division, Investigation and Intelligence Department, Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau\u2014Mr. Hiroshi Oka<\/strong>, as well as the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau Director who oversees him,Mr. Atsushi Kitamura<\/strong>is directed toward<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"I request an in-person investigation\"\u2014this was the single phrase that Chief Examiner Oka chanted mechanically like a machine, completely ignoring the union members' questions, even after a psychiatric patient with a history of attempted suicide submitted a medical certificate, and even after being informed of a doctor's prohibition order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facts \u2014 Fukuoka Airport, in public view, two suicide attempts, and chanting repeatedly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The factual sequence in this case is extremely simple and extremely serious. We will review it in chronological order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(1) The first attempted suicide and prior sharing of the circumstances leading up to it<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the course of the inspection and investigation in this case, the union member had already attempted suicide once, and the circumstances leading up to it had been successively shared in writing with the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau. In other words, the warning that \"continuing the same kind of response any further could lead to a recurrence of the same result\" had been submitted multiple times in writing, which is the most objective form possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(2) Commencement of face-to-face surveys in public view at Fukuoka Airport<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, your agency's personnel demanded cooperation with the face-to-face investigation in a persistent and coercive manner in front of the public at Fukuoka Airport, where the union members returned to Japan. This situation even escalated to the point where a third party witnessed the scene and identified the union members through search activities. This no longer resembled an \"investigation,\" but rather took on the appearance of social sanctions or public shaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(3) Second suicide attempt and submission of the medical certificate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of the continuation of this response, the union member's mental illness worsened, leading to a second suicide attempt. The doctor explicitly documented the discontinuation of the in-person investigation in a medical certificate, and this certificate was submitted to the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(4) Despite this, Chief Examiner Hiroshi Oka's \"constant repetition of face-to-face surveys\"<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even after submitting the medical certificate and communicating the doctor's prohibition order, Chief Examiner Hiroshi Oka, under the direction of Regional Commissioner of Taxation Atsushi Kitamura, continued to blindly and repeatedly demand, \"We ask that you undergo a face-to-face investigation.\" When the union member pointed out the legal basis under the Disability Discrimination Act, stating, \"Specific accommodations should be shown in advance,\" Chief Examiner Oka ignored it. Even when pressed about what kind of accommodations were made afterward, Chief Examiner Oka could not answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

(Summary of recreation) from the recording<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

union member<\/strong>I am a person with a mental illness. I've told you that on the phone multiple times, and I have also submitted a medical certificate. Is this really the policy of the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau, to keep demanding an in-person investigation even after all this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chairperson Oka<\/strong>Please conduct an in-person survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

union member<\/strong>Even after showing you the disability-related laws and reasonable accommodations, you still keep demanding it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chairperson Oka<\/strong>Please conduct an in-person survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

union member<\/strong>Does this mean you will not exercise any other means, including in writing or through a legal representative? Please provide the rationale.Chairperson Oka<\/strong>\u2026\u2026I cannot answer that due to confidentiality obligations.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Legal Issue 1: A structure that completely tramples upon the \"prior consideration\" required by the Act for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Article 7, Paragraph 2 of the Act on the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities provides that when an administrative organ, etc., receives an expression of intent from a person with a disability to the effect that the removal of social barriers is currently needed, and the burden associated therewith is not excessive, they shall, in order not to infringe upon the rights and interests of the said person with a disability, take necessary measures regarding the implementation of the removal of social barriers in accordance with the gender, age, and state of disability of the said person.We must provide necessary and reasonable accommodations<\/strong>stipulates<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is crucial to the structure of this provision is \u201cConsideration must be provided proactively, specifically, and before the occurrence of the result.<\/strong>is that saying \"I intended to be considerate\" after an accident has occurred is not being considerate. That is merely an ex post facto excuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Legal Basis 1
Act for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, Article 7, Paragraph 2<\/strong> Obligation of administrative agencies and other entities to provide reasonable accommodations. Once an expression of intent is made, necessary accommodations must be provided in advance, unless it imposes an undue burden.

Legal basis \u2461<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 4 of the Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities<\/strong> Prohibition of discrimination. Discrimination on the grounds of disability and other acts that infringe upon rights and interests shall be prohibited.

Legal basis \u2462<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 5, paragraph 3<\/strong> Ensuring reasonable accommodation. Japan has ratified this Convention, and the interpretation of its domestic laws must be consistent with it.

Legal Basis 4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 1, Paragraph 1 of the State Redress Act<\/strong> When a public official, in the exercise of public authority, intentionally or negligently inflicts unlawful damage on another person in the performance of their duties, the State shall assume liability for compensation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Applied to this case, the conclusion is simple. The union members submitted medical certificates, which represent the most specific expression of intent, multiple times. At this point, the administrative agency, the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau,Legal obligation to present specific considerations in advance<\/strong>occurred. Switching to written correspondence, communicating through legal counsel, handling it online, sending questions in advance \u2014 there were countless options available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Lead Inspector Oka and Bureau Chief Kitamura showed no trace of having examined any of these matters, and simply kept repeating, \"We ask that you undergo an in-person investigation.\" This already goes beyond the level of a failure to fulfill the obligation to provide reasonable accommodations,Disability discrimination itself<\/strong>is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal Issue 2: The New Breed of Abnormal Public Servants Who \"Stay Silent When Asked About Post-Event Consideration\"<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since failing to take preventive measures was already illegal, the union members demanded to know, at least retroactively, what kind of considerations your office had taken. What did your office do, after the fact, for the psychiatric patient whose condition worsened after being exposed to the public at Fukuoka Airport?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chairperson Oka could not answer this. Not a single thing could he answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Failing to show consideration in advance, and unable to answer when asked about retrospective consideration\u2014this is a problem that goes beyond the abuse or exceeding of administrative discretion. Consideration itself does not exist as an organization or as a concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in criminal investigations to which the Administrative Procedure Act does not apply, the established judicial precedent since the Supreme Court ruling of October 28, 1971 (Personal Taxi Case) requires that, in order for an administrative disposition to fall within the scope of discretion,Rationality of the decision-making process<\/strong>is required to be considered. In other words, if the administrative agency cannot explain what it considered and what it did not consider, the disposition becomes illegal on the grounds of a flaw in the decision-making process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, Chief Examiner Oka and Bureau Director Kitamura have no record of considering prior considerations and cannot immediately answer when asked about post-consideration. This means that the decision-making process itself does not exist. That which has no decision-making process is not even discretion. It is simply a runaway action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal Issue 3: Inspection investigations are merely administrative investigations \u2014 there is no obligation whatsoever to meet face-to-face.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here, we will confirm the most elementary and decisive point. Although a tax inspection investigation is an investigation of a penal violation cases, its essence isIt is merely an administrative investigation<\/strong>As the Supreme Court ruling of July 10, 1973 (Arakawa Tax Association case) clearly indicated, tax investigations are conducted, in principle, on the premise of the taxpayer's voluntary cooperation and are distinct from compulsory measures in criminal procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question and inspection authority under Article 131 and subsequent articles of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes does not stipulate \"in-person only\" at all regarding the choice of means. Written documents, telephone calls, online communication, and handling via a representative\u2014none of these are excluded from the system as methods for exercising the question and inspection authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confirmation item: The \"obligation for face-to-face surveys\" does not exist anywhere.<\/strong>
1. There is no provision in the General Law of National Taxes that mandates face-to-face audits.
(2) There is no statement in the notice that only in-person is permitted.
\u2462 There is no judicial precedent stating that the authority of questioning and inspection cannot be exercised unless conducted face-to-face.
\u2463 Despite this, Lead Examiner Oka repeatedly demanded, \"We ask that you submit to an in-person investigation.\" When asked about the legal basis for this, he fell silent, stating, \"This is investigative information, so we cannot answer.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do Chief Examiner Oka and Director-General Kitamura continue to coerce someone into performing a non-obligatory act, to the extent of worsening the other party's mental illness and twice inducing suicide attempts, yet have not answered this question even once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead Investigator Oka's catchphrase, \"I cannot answer that as it is investigative information,\"We simply cannot answer because there is no legal basis for it in the first place.<\/strong>It cannot be interpreted in any other way than as, because citing the legal basis can never constitute a leak of investigative information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal Argument 4: The farce of an organization with zero reading comprehension claiming to \"decipher\" seized LINE messages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And this is the most ludicrous and, at the same time, most fatal argument in this case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau seized a large volume of LINE messages and other data from union members. Despite this, after the seizure, your bureau asks no questions. Without asking any questions, you selectively clip parts of social media content to label them as \"abusive language\" and arbitrarily conclude that they are \"neither jokes nor hypothetical drills.\" At this point, there is a question that everyone must stop and consider.Does this organization even have the ability to decipher LINE messages and the like?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cannot read legal provisions. I cannot read medical certificates. I cannot even read instruction manuals exceeding 1,500 pages. I cannot read doctors' prohibition orders. \u2014 And yet, an organization like that is seriously claiming that they, and they alone, can \"properly read and understand\" seized LINE messages by taking context into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to its nature, conversations on the tool known as LINE are rarely self-contained. Before and after LINE exchanges, there are phone calls, face-to-face meetings, online interviews, messages passed through third parties, and communications on other apps. Evaluating a passage on LINE by detaching it from its context will, in most cases, lead to misreading. To correctly interpret LINE messages, a remarkably high level of reading comprehension, an understanding of the parties' business context, and supplementation through careful questioning of the parties involved are indispensable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau abandoned all of these, even while openly declaring that it involved senior officials of the National Tax Agency. It does not ask questions. It does not listen to the context. It does not read the person's own explanation.And then they cut out only the parts they want to see and decide on the conclusion first.<\/strong>In the world of administrative law, this is called \"conclusion-first determination\" and is categorized as a typical example of an illegal disposition that lacks rationality in the decision-making process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A person who cannot even read legal provisions has no business reading seized LINE messages.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The logic is completely simple. If someone cannot understand the structure of \"advance notice\" in even a single provision\u2014Article 7, Paragraph 2 of the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities\u2014there is no way they could properly decipher LINE exchanges that require extremely advanced reading comprehension, such as the other party's business context, interpersonal relationships, commercial practices, industry jargon, slang, jokes, sarcasm, and hypothetical training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not a lack of ability.structural defect<\/strong>It is. If an organization that cannot read even the most clearly written documents, such as legal provisions and medical certificates, claims to have \"properly interpreted\" seized electronic data, that is either self-deception regarding its own reading comprehension or deception against taxpayers and the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open questions to Atsushi Kitamura, Regional Commissioner of the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Through this article, we request Mr. Atsushi Kitamura, Director of the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau, to respond to the following seven points in a public forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(1)<\/strong>Provide the specific legal basis, along with the article number, that justified continuing to demand in-person investigations even after medical certificates had been submitted multiple times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(2)<\/strong>Disclose as a document the alternative means considered in advance and the contents of the reasonable accommodations presented in advance regarding the initiation of face-to-face surveys in public at Fukuoka Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(3)<\/strong>Disclose the specific details of the post-incident care implemented by your department after the second suicide attempt, along with the time and the name of the person in charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(4)<\/strong>Regarding the point where Chief Inspector Hiroshi Oka stated, \"We cannot answer regarding the face-to-face investigation because it is investigative information,\" please indicate the statutory provision that serves as the basis for this \"investigative information\" status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(5)<\/strong>Explain in writing your office's methodology, which assumes that seized electronic data such as LINE messages can be evaluated based on context without questioning the individual concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(6)<\/strong>State the organizational position regarding the fact that your office has not presented a single substantive rebuttal to the more than 1,500 explanatory documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(7)<\/strong>Provide a written assurance that no internal suppression or concealment of recordings, written documents, medical certificates, or other objective materials provided by union members regarding this matter has taken place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

We have been repeating just one thing: \"Why do you continue to force voluntary face-to-face investigations even on suicide attempters?\" To this question, Chief Inspector Hiroshi Oka and Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau Director Atsushi Kitamura have yet to give a single proper answer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-- National Tax Union Editorial Department<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

To Citizens, Union Members, and Taxpayers Nationwide \u2014 Request for Information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The National Tax Union is the world's first free-to-join labor union for taxpayers. The provision of information is widely open to the general public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All recorded data regarding this matter is first being shared with those who requested it on a first-come, first-served basis, and will subsequently be released in short video format in due course. The institutional characteristic that inspection investigations are exempt from the application of the Administrative Procedure Act inherently means that it naturally allows for the trade-off of citizens \"recording, publishing, and conducting organized surveillance.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let's all keep an eye on Atsushi Kitamura, Director-General of the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau.<\/strong> We cannot entrust the lives of taxpayers to an organization that can read neither statutory provisions nor medical certificates. The National Tax Union welcomes all of your tips, eyewitness accounts, similar cases, and related news reports. All tips are accepted with complete anonymity, reviewed by union members through consensus, and published in an appropriate format. Search for \"National Tax Union\" \u2014 This is the first step for taxpayers in Reiwa-era Japan.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was published as part of a joint monitoring project by three parties: the National Tax Union, the Association of Union Members Desiring an Early Accusation, and the Association of Victims Demanding the Early Return of Seized Items. All factual statements in the article are based on audio recordings, documents, medical certificates, submitted explanatory documents (exceeding 1,500 pages), and witness testimony provided by union members. All quoted statements are stored within the union in a state verifiable against the original audio recordings.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because this inspection and investigation is exempt from the application of the Administrative Procedure Act pursuant to Article 3, Paragraph 1, Item 14 of the same Act, the official duties executed by public officials in the course of said investigation are, as a trade-off, inherently subject to being recorded, published, and systematically monitored by citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 National Tax Union \/ Kokuzei Union
Unauthorized reproduction welcome, distribution welcome, please consult regarding modifications.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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