{"id":233,"date":"2026-07-16T07:49:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T07:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/?p=233"},"modified":"2026-07-16T07:49:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T07:49:48","slug":"%e7%95%b0%e5%8b%95%e3%81%a7%e6%8d%9c%e6%9f%bb%e3%81%be%e3%81%a7%e7%95%b0%e5%8b%95%e3%81%95%e3%81%9b%e3%82%8b%e3%81%aa%e2%80%95%e9%a6%ac%e8%a6%8b%e5%a1%9a%e3%83%a1%e3%83%a2%e3%81%ab%e6%b8%a1%e8%be%ba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/archives\/233","title":{"rendered":"Don't transfer investigations just because of a personnel change\u2014if you wrote about Makoto Watanabe's \"Last One Mile\" in the Mamizuka memo, then investigate it to the end."},"content":{"rendered":"

In July 2026, due to the National Tax Agency's personnel reshuffle, it has been made public that there were also personnel changes involving the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau executives and officials alleged to have been involved in this matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if Atsushi Kitamura, the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau Director at the time of this case, Tsuyoshi Shimazaki, the Supervising National Tax Investigator, Nobuhiro Kawaguchi, the Chief Inspector, and others have moved on to their former positions, that does not mean the questions surrounding this case can simply be packed into a cardboard box for predecessors and sent off to the warehouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the national tax authorities are handing over the case to the Kagoshima District Public Prosecutors Office and considering measures extending to overseas parties, accomplices, and passport-related actions, the investigation should not end with the reassignment of the personnel in charge. Instead, the \"last mile\" and the flow of funds, including those involving Makoto Watanabe, should be fully elucidated to the very end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A personnel change is not a notice of the conclusion of an investigation.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even if civil servants change, the records and responsibilities remain with the organization.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The transfer of the district director, supervising inspector, and chief investigator is standard personnel management in itself. However, if the officials' awareness of investigation issues, evaluation of evidence, and even promises made to related parties disappear every time the personnel changes, the national tax organization ends up having its memory wiped every summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Materials seized during the inspection, the created fund-flow charts, interviews with involved parties, the handover document for the prosecutors, and the results of device analysis are official state records, not personal notebooks. Even after a transfer, they must be accurately handed over to the successor and the prosecutors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If former Director-General Atsushi Kitamura, former Director-General Tsuyoshi Shimazaki, former Chief Inspector Nobuhiro Kawaguchi, and others were involved in this case, it is only natural that they cooperate in explaining the background, testifying, and verifying records as needed even after their transfers. The moment one becomes a predecessor, things they witnessed do not simply become things they never saw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overseas cases and the statute of limitations: Please pursue them with accurate laws, not eternity.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Suspension of the statute of limitations due to staying abroad<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Article 255 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that the statute of limitations for public prosecution shall be suspended while the offender is outside Japan or is in hiding and thereby unable to receive valid service of a copy of the indictment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the mere presence of one related party abroad does not automatically pause the statute of limitations for all related parties within the country. As a rule, the suspension due to staying abroad is an issue that concerns the offender who is abroad himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, Article 254, Paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that when a public prosecution is instituted against one accomplice, the statute of limitations is also suspended for other accomplices until that judgment becomes final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, rather than loosely claiming that \"because it is an overseas case, the statute of limitations never expires,\" we should organize regarding whom, under which legal provision, and from when to when the statute of limitations is suspended, and thoroughly continue the investigation for as long as the law permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve gone so far as to take action regarding passports, you should investigate the big picture all the more.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If orders for passport surrender and other measures were considered or implemented regarding overseas affiliates, the investigative authorities should comprehensively examine their whereabouts, escape routes, financial backers, contact persons, and the circumstances leading up to their return to Japan or arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not a true investigation of an overseas flight case unless you go beyond merely catching the fugitive to examine who enabled the escape, who covered the costs, who had access to the investigation details, and who ultimately profited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsibility for writing about Makoto Watanabe and the last mile in the Mamizuka Memo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you wrote it, verify it. If you won't verify it, explain why you wrote it.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It has been pointed out that the \"Mamizuka Memo,\" which has reportedly already been leaked and spread quite widely, mentions Last One Mile and Makoto Watanabe, and contains expressions suggesting complex fund flows, illegality, and the possibility of arrests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this document was prepared by officials at the Kumamoto Regional Tax Office and used as reference material in consultations with the prosecution, questions will arise regarding the extent to which the subjects mentioned in it were investigated and what was uncovered as a result of the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If investigators created a flowchart placing Mr. Watanabe\u2019s name at the very top, yet were satisfied merely with the arrest of defendant Nakano Shukichi and left the verification of the \u201clast mile\u201d vague, it raises the suspicion that the memo was not investigative material, but rather a staged document intended to target certain individuals and exclude others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, if the contents of the memo were incorrect, the background of its creation and the correction should be clarified. In any case, this is not an issue where the answer disappears due to a transfer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The return of seized items is also an issue that should be handed over to the successor.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to statements from those involved, while numerous PCs, smartphones, and accounting documents belonging to corporations and individuals have not been returned for an extended period, only Mr. Makoto Watanabe\u2019s devices were returned promptly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this information is accurate, we need to verify the criteria for the decision to return the items, whether the data was preserved, who authorized the decision, and how these items differ from other seized items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not acceptable to say that the background of the return is unknown because the person in charge has been transferred. This is because the return is part of evidence management by public authority, and records must remain regardless of who is transferred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public Questions to the Kumamoto Regional Tax Bureau, the Kagoshima District Public Prosecutors' Office, and the Fukuoka High Public Prosecutors' Office<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Questions and matters to be confirmed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. What kind of handover took place from Atsushi Kitamura, Director of the Kumamoto Regional Tax Office at the time of this incident; Tsuyoshi Shimazaki, Chief Tax Inspector; Nobuhiro Kawaguchi, Senior Inspector; and others to their successors?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Does the handover document include the last mile, Mr. Makoto Watanabe, Defendant Toshiaki Nakano, overseas parties, return of seized items, and suspicions of investigative information leaks?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Is the document known as the Mamizuka Memo an official or semi-official examination document of the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau or the prosecution?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Why were Makoto Watanabe, Last One Mile, and their affiliated companies listed in that memo?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Regarding the flow of funds described in that memo, to what extent have you verified the accounts, accounting records, terminals, contracts, and statements from relevant parties?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. If a decision was made to rule out criminal liability for Mr. Makoto Watanabe or individuals associated with Last One Mile, when was that decision made, and what was the objective basis for it?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. If no decision has been made, are they still the subject of an investigation or inquiry?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Have you identified the period during which the statute of limitations on prosecution is suspended under Article 255 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the individuals believed to be abroad?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Are you considering the possibility that the indictment of one of the co-conspirators could extend to the other co-conspirators under Article 254, Paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. If orders to surrender passports or other measures to prevent flight abroad are considered or implemented, are the individuals subject to such measures and the legal basis for them clearly documented in the investigation records?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  11. Is it true that the seized device belonging to Mr. Makoto Watanabe was returned early? If so, have the reason for the return, the decision-maker, and the data preservation status been handed over to his successor?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  12. Do you plan to interview or consult with your predecessors, as needed, in their capacity as witnesses or as individuals providing handover briefings?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  13. Do you intend to continue investigating the flow of funds\u2014including that involving Last One Mile and Makoto Watanabe\u2014even after the personnel changes?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    It was a person who was transferred. It's not the truth.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Demands of the Prosecutors' Union<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The Prosecutors Union is not saying to personally hound the predecessor. They are saying that the successor should take responsible charge of the public records and decisions handled by the predecessor and, if necessary, ask the predecessor for an explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If the national tax authorities have passed it to the prosecution, the Kagoshima District Public Prosecutors Office and the Fukuoka High Public Prosecutors Office must take it to the end. Leaving the ball midway and having only the personnel return to the bench is not permitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you\u2019ve written about \u201cThe Last Mile\u201d and Makoto Watanabe in the Mamizuka Memo, please investigate the matter thoroughly. If it\u2019s incorrect, please correct it. If it\u2019s correct, please get to the truth regardless of any personnel changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is people who have been transferred. It is not evidence, responsibility, or truth.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    2026\u5e747\u6708\u3001\u56fd\u7a0e\u5e81\u306e\u4eba\u4e8b\u7570\u52d5\u306b\u4f34\u3044\u3001\u672c\u4ef6\u306b\u95a2\u4e0e\u3057\u305f\u3068\u3055\u308c\u308b\u718a\u672c\u56fd\u7a0e\u5c40\u306e\u5e79\u90e8\u30fb\u62c5\u5f53\u8005\u306b\u3082\u7570\u52d5\u304c\u3042\u3063\u305f\u3068\u306e\u60c5\u5831 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"swell_btn_cv_data":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kensatsu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237,"href":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions\/237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalunion-grp.org\/okami\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}