Japan PM Kishida’s mid-holiday stepdown bombshell dents gov’t worker vacation plans

TOKYO — Fumio Kishida’s declaration that he would not stay on as Japan’s prime minister past September sent the country’s political world into a tizzy, but it had one other infuriating consequence for some: civil servants were yanked back to their desks smack dab in the middle of the “Obon” summer holiday.

In usual years, central government agencies have a quiet period around the about a week-long Obon holidays, which fall in mid-August. But due to Kishida’s surprise announcement that he would not seek reelection as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in its leadership race to be held next month, some officials cut family holidays short to return to their offices in Tokyo’s Kasumigaseki district. As overwork by public employees is seen as a problem, some have let on their resentment at not even being able to relax over the summer break.

A young government employee watching Kishida’s televised press conference with coworkers and others said with slumped shoulders, “In Kasumigaseki, there are lots of people who only take holidays for Obon or at the start of the year.”

The employee said their boss was annoyed at having to return from holiday. “What with the impending Cabinet reshuffle, general election, budget compilation and Diet dealings, we won’t be able to rest at all. Couldn’t he (Kishida) have made his announcement after Obon?” the worker said.

A senior bureaucrat said, “Everyone was returning to their family homes for the Obon vacation, but the phone calls came in and I was quickly pulled back into work mode.”

A senior official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications who had no choice but to cut their vacation short revealed, “I’d just told my subordinates to get a good rest this year. Though I hadn’t seen my daughter (who was home for the Obon holiday) in a long time, when I said my job was calling, my family was aghast.”

Digital Minister Taro Kono, who doubles as the minister responsible for civil service reform and is pushing workstyle reform for public employees, artfully told an Aug. 15 post-Cabinet meeting presser, “The Digital Agency has made no particular changes and is continuing its Obon vacation.” When asked about the policies at other ministries, he said, “Please ask the respective ministers.”

(Japanese original by Shiho Fujibuchi and Naoko Furuyashiki, Business News Department)