SYSTEM OF ETHICS OF PUBLIC SERVANTS IN JAPANYuji Takada*
I. THE ROLES OF THE NATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE ETHICS BOARD
The National Personnel Authority is placed under the Cabinet Office of the Japanese
government. Founded as a neutral and specialized third-party organization responsible for thepersonnel management of national public servants, the National Personnel Authority has thefollowing functions: (a) to ensure fairness in personnel administration; (b) to compensate forthe restrictions on basic labor rights; and (c) to act as a specialized agency for personneladministration.
The Ethics Board is set up under the National Personnel Authority as an institution
specializing in the maintenance of ethics pertaining to the duties of national public servants.
II. SYSTEM OF ETHICS OF PUBLIC SERVANTS IN JAPANA. Assessment of Recent Achievements
1. Improvement in the ranking and score of CPI (Corruption Perceptions Index)
An NGO called Transparency International annually publishes CPI, which ranks
countries by their perceived levels of corruption. Japan ranked 17th, scoring 7.8 points in theindex in 2010 and ranked 14th, scoring 8 points in 2011 in the most recent survey. This is asignificant improvement compared to the results in both ranking and score prior to theenactment of the National Public Service Ethics Law where Japan ranked 25th with the scoreof 5.8 points.
2. Decrease in the number of cases violating the Ethics Law
The number of violations had actually been on the rise until fiscal year 2008. Suchincrease was not necessarily because the level of awareness of ethics among public servants
lowered. It was due to the fact that violations that had been overlooked started to come up tothe surface because the rules and regulations stipulated in the Ethics Law became morewidespread among the public officials and because the awareness of ethics among the private
sector and the entire society saw an increase in recent years.
In the past couple of years, the number of cases in violation has decreased to around 20.
This demonstrates that the public administration has become well versed in the stipulations in
the Ethics Law, which has helped to raise the standard of ethics among public servants.
B. Structure of Duties of National Public Servants and Ethics System
The National Public Service Act specifies the duties that must be performed by allworkers in the public sector. Based on the underlying premise that “every official, as a servantof all citizens, shall serve the public interest,” the law provides the various responsibilities ofpublic servants such as their duty to obey the law and work orders, duty to refrain from taking*Ethics Officer for Planning, Secretariat of the National Public Service Ethics Board.

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labor dispute actions or any socially irresponsible actions, duty of confidentiality and theobligation to give undivided attention to duty.
The National Public Service Ethics Law is actually deeply connected to such duties ofpublic servants.
Usually the term public service ethics is used in a broad sense referring to the general“behavior and attitude called for by a public servant.” However, the Ethics Law is positioned
partly as a guideline that provides the minimum standards of the service rules that shall befollowed by the officials. This is because its primary purpose is to prevent cozy ties between
public servants and business entities by regulating donations and wining and dining byinterested parties.
The underlying reason for this positioning is that when this law was enacted, there was a
lot of discussion as to whether it was appropriate to create a law to regulate “ethics,” whose
values are tied to emotions. There were concerns that such law could infringe the freedom ofthought and conscience protected by the constitution. In addition, the primary focus of the law
was to prevent bribery and other misconduct.
C. Background to the Enactment of the Ethics Law
The administration in the mid-90s was plagued by scandals by high government officials.
One of the most scandalous cases was the arrest of a bureaucrat of the then Ministry of Healthand Welfare on bribery charges. He was accused for accepting monetary compensation fromthe head of a social welfare corporation in exchange for favorable arrangements with regard
to the grant of subsidy. A few other senior officials also received disciplinary punishment for
repeatedly being treated in exchange for favors.
This scandal prompted the Administrative Vice-Ministers’ Conference in 1996 to reachan agreement to formulate the code of ethics for public officials and have each ministry andgovernment office draw it up as an order or an internal rule.
However, shortly after this incident, another case of serious misconduct occurred in 1998.
This time it was the financial scandal involving the Ministry of Finance. The head of thefinancial inspection department and others were arrested on charges of receiving unlawful
corporate entertainment in exchange for favors such as informing of the inspection dates
beforehand. More than 100 public officials were subject to punishment for receiving lavish
wining and dining from financial institutions, etc.
The repeated scandals made it clear that it was not rational to have confidence in theself-cleansing mechanism of the bureaucrats. This triggered the movement to legally stipulate
the code of ethics of public servants. The National Public Service Ethics Law was establishedon August 13, 1999 and was put into effect in April 2000. This law is distinctive in the sensethat it is lawmaker-initiated legislation and that it won a unanimous vote among all politicalparties.
The development of the Ethics Law has involved such a scandalous and dishonorable
course for government employees. We as public servants should always bear that in mind andcontinue to have a sense of crisis.

- 99 -D. Framework of the System of Ethics of Public ServantsWithin the Ethics Law and Ethics Regulation, there is the Code of Ethical Conduct,
which stipulates the standards for proper behavior of public servants. There are two pillars
that provide the basis for more specific guidelines: “Rules of Conduct” and “Rules ofReporting.”
The Ethics Board has been set up to implement such rules. Whoever is in the position
equivalent to that of the administrative vice-minister assumes the role of Ethics Officer ineach ministry and government office.
The Ethics Board is a collegial body consisting of four members including the President.
The members either come from a legal, financial or academic circle or have worked in a labororganization. Within its organization, the Ethics Board has a Secretariat, which currently
consists of 14 staff members.
The National Public Service Ethics Board has various authorities pertaining to themaintenance of ethics among national public service officials. The authorities andresponsibilities include:{ Comprehensive planning and coordination of training programs for maintaining
ethics of public officials; and{ Investigation of cases in violation of the Ethics Law, instructions on investigations
in disciplinary proceedings and approval of disciplinary measures.
E. Code of Ethical Conduct
The Code of Ethical Conduct provides the guidelines for public servants to behave in anethical manner.
The code is comprised of five points: (a) public servants shall remember that they areservants of all citizens and always engage in their duties with fairness; (b) public servants
shall not abuse their duties and authorities for personal gain; (c) public servants shall not takeany actions resulting in public suspicion or distrust; (d) public servants shall exert their utmost
efforts in performing their duties; and (e) public servants shall always behave while bearing in
mind that their actions, even while off duty, may influence the public trust.
F. Rules of Conduct“Rules of Conduct” has two parts: “prohibited actions involving an interested party” and“other prohibited actions.”
Since the Ethics Law was formulated due to the scandals of public officials becoming
too cozy with business entities with special interests, the actions prohibited in the regulations
for ethics primarily apply to those considered inappropriate between public servants andinterested parties.
Interested parties refer to parties that may directly benefit or be penalized through thepublic servants’ duties involving permission/authorization, on-site inspections and contracts.

- 100 -To be specific, “prohibited actions involving an interested party” include the following:{ To receive gifts;{ To receive wining and dining; and{ To rent goods and receive services free of charge.
As an exception, “to receive widely distributed marketing materials” is not considered asa prohibited action.
“Other prohibited actions” include the following:{ To receive excessive wining and dining reasonably deemed inappropriate undersocially accepted conventions; and{ To engage in an organized violating act such as section chief and othermanagement-level staff letting the wrongdoings of his/her subordinate pass.
G. Rules of Reporting
The other pillar in the Ethics Law is the “Rules of Reporting.” There are three reporting
systems:(a) reporting on the donations received from business entities and other parties;(b) reporting on the dealings in the stock market during the year; and(c) reporting on the income earned during the year.
All of these rules have been introduced in order to ensure the transparency regarding theofficials’ contact with business entities and to check whether there was an act of receiving
inappropriate donations or compensations from interested parties.
The Ethics Board reviews the copies of various reports submitted by the heads of eachministry and government office.
H. Investigations of Cases Suspected to be Violating the Ethics Law and Disciplinary
Measures
Before the Ethics Law was in effect, the disciplinary measures were decided based on thediscretion of each ministry and government office. There were many criticisms that thepunishment was too light and that the public servants were extremely lenient on their fellow
workers.
Therefore, the cases suspected to be in violation of the Ethics Law are thoroughly
investigated and the subsequent disciplinary measures are strictly enforced.
To be more specific, the mechanism is set up so that the Ethics Board would be deeply
involved in the process. For example, it is required to report the investigation results to theEthics Board and to obtain the approval of the Board in determining the penalties.

- 101 -I. Disciplinary Measures for Violating the Ethics Law
Any violations of the Ethics Law and Ethics Regulation are subject to disciplinary
measures whose criteria are defined in the Rules of the National Personnel Authority (22-1).
III. EFFORTS TO ENFORCE THE RULES
Regulations similar to the Ethics Law exist outside of Japan. Then why is it that scandals
and misconduct by public servants have shown a drastic decrease particularly in Japan?
The Ethics Board carries out various measures to enforce the existing rules.
A. Training and Educational Activities
More than a dozen of training workshops each year hosted by the Ethics Board arecarried out in major cities all over Japan.
In addition, the Ethics Board places great emphasis on developing training materials,
such as PowerPoint slides for explaining the system and DVDs for case studies, to fully
support the ethics training workshops carried out by ministries and government offices. The
DVDs for case studies in particular have received favorable reviews as specific cases arepresented in an easy-to-understand dramatized form.
There are somewhere between 100,000 to 200,000 people a year who participate in theethics training workshops held by ministries and government offices. This translates to one or
two persons out of every three national public officials in regular government service
receiving some sort of training pertaining to ethics every year.
In addition, the Ethics Board displays posters, distributes leaflets, organizes lectures andengages in various other activities particularly during the week between December 1 and 7,
which is designated as Ethics Week to increase awareness of ethics among public servants.
Since emphasis is placed on the role of top officials, Ethics Officers are required to sendout emails to all staff in their team to raise their consciousness towards ethics.
Furthermore, the Ethics Board actively engages in activities to educate those outside of
the government by preparing a variety of brochures to improve the understanding of private
businesses and other parties that deal with the public sector.
B. Responses after Misconduct Takes Place
It is not possible to undo what has already been done. Therefore, it is crucial to take steps
to minimize the damage as much as possible after misconduct takes place.
If it takes too much time to determine the disciplinary measures, people may think that
there is still something else that has not come to the surface. Also, if the punishment is toolight, the organization’s self-cleansing mechanism may be put to question.
On the basis of such facts, the Ethics Board strives to coordinate with ministries andgovernment offices to promptly carry out investigations and strictly enforce disciplinary- 102 -measures.
C. Enhancing and Reinforcing the System to Maintain Ethics
One of the projects that the Ethics Board is currently focusing on is the establishment of
an internal reporting system. Reports from the inside enable early detection and make itpossible to take preemptive measures against suspicious cases, contributing to the preventionof misconduct. It is important to change the workers’ mindset so they realize that reporting
misconduct is vital for the sake of the organization and that it is their obligation to do so.
It is also essential to make sure that whoever informs of the misconduct does not suffer
any consequences. The informer may experience inconvenience by just revealing his or her
name, let alone end up feeling awkward in the organization. It is necessary to be considerateof the informer by keeping the identity unknown after the first contact if the name wasrevealed and also being open to anonymous reports.
Currently, all ministries and government offices have set up contacts for internalreporting. The issue at hand will be how to fully make use of the system so all workers do not
feel hesitant to utilize it when needed.
IV. CURRENT ISSUES
Every year the Ethics Board conducts a questionnaire survey that targets the generalpublic as well as public servants to examine the current state of ethics among public officials.
The results show that the public at large tends to be most critical of the ethical standardsof national public servants while the public servants themselves are the least critical.
This demonstrates the fact that the consciousness level of public servants is not at thelevel that fulfills the standards required by the citizens, which is quite problematic.
V. FUTURE AGENDA
It has been over 10 years since the Ethics Law was put into effect. It can be said that therules specified in the law to be followed by national public servants are becoming widely
known and fairly well-established.
However, it is undeniable that there is a large discrepancy between the situation
perceived by public servants and the reality seen through the eyes of the general public.
Therefore, in order to address this issue, the main focus of future efforts is to be placed on thefollowing three areas in the next 10 years.
A. Developing the Ethical Mindset of Public Servants
Merely providing the knowledge is not going to be sufficient from now on. It is
becoming more and more important to help public servants develop their ethical mindset toone that encompasses the behavior, attitude and work ethics that are more appropriate forsomeone serving the public.

- 103 -B. Constructing an Ethical Climate in the Organization
It is necessary to further enhance and reinforce the system to maintain ethics bypromoting the use of the reporting system, building an operation control that inhibits
misconduct and setting up an investigation system for when misconduct occurs.
C. Enforcing Strict Measures against Ethics Law Violation
It is essential to analyze the motive and cause of violating the Ethics Law in order to takeproper measures to prevent the same thing from happening.
The Ethics Board will continue to actively address these issues to achieve the objectiveof the Ethics Law of securing the citizens’ confidence in public servants.
The Ethics Board will work with other organizations to the utmost of its ability in further
increasing the ethical standards of the Asia and Pacific region.

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