Defence assets of hawkish new minister Tomomi Inada under scrutiny
A sizeable portion of shares owned by Defence Chief Inada are in major defence contractors to the government
Appointed in a reshuffle in August, 57-year-old Inada declared 181.78 million yen (HK$13.84 million) in assets, the largest of the 120 members of the cabinet, whose average assets came to a more modest 40.18 million yen.
The vast majority of Inada’s assets are in property, in both Tokyo and her home constituency of Fukui Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan or East Sea.
Citing the asset disclosure documents for newly appointed ministers, The Mainichi newspaper reported that Inada “owns stocks in three major defence contractors under her husband’s name”.
Of the Inadas’ 260,000 shares that are held in 41 companies, 8,000 shares are in IHI Corp, 6,000 are in Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd, and a further 3,000 are in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
The Mainichi reported that the Ministry of Defence’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency placed orders worth 263.2 billion yen with Mitsubishi Heavy in 2014. Equipment valued at an additional 191.3 billion yen was ordered from Kawasaki Heavy and a contracts worth 61.9 billion yen were signed with IHI.