15/08/2026
Akita prefectural government employee on Friday was handed a disciplinary suspension of six months for attending a press conference remotely and smoking in his pajamas in a hotel earlier this month.
The 55-year-old employee has also been demoted by two ranks for the action, the prefectural government said.
According to the prefectural government, the employee had been involved in its project to build an artificial intelligence data center in Akita City. During a press conference on the project on Aug. 6, the employee, who attended it via video call, appeared to be smoking in a bathrobe.
The following day, his boss apologized, saying that the employee attended the press conference “from his home because he was not feeling well,” based on what the employee had told senior officials.
However, some members of the press and social media posts pointed out that the employee might have been in a hotel at the time of the press conference. Clips from the video call showed wallpaper with a distinctive pattern in the background.
When senior prefectural government officials once again questioned the employee on Aug. 8, he finally admitted that he was at a hotel with a female acquaintance at the time of the press conference.
When asked why he initially lied, he said, “I hesitated to say where I was, given how the hotel [I stayed at] is used,” the employee said. “I thought that even if I lied, no one would find out.”
