札幌市職員を30分にわたり叱責した音声入手〝威圧的発言〟問題の長谷川岳議員が釈明　無理な要求をしたことは「基本ない」

LDP Senator Gaku Hasegawa has been facing criticism for his abusive behavior. HBC has obtained an audio recording. Senator Gaku Hasegawa "Hey, you guys in Sapporo! Everyone, including you. Everyone's doing their jobs, but you're ignoring the things that should be the most important. I can't believe it." According to sources, Hasegawa berated a Sapporo city employee for roughly 30 minutes at a meeting in March. Senator Gaku Hasegawa "You're also studying every single day, meeting with various ministries and agencies, and basically trying to get all the deregulation passed. You haven't sent me a single thank you or a crap email. No thank you. No results. It's like, who are you?" Sapporo City Official "Yes, I'm sorry." "Thank you." Senator Gaku Hasegawa "Let's leave Sapporo City behind and go home. Please use this as the city's meeting place." Sapporo Mayor Akimoto revealed that Hasegawa himself called him late last month to apologize for his intimidating behavior. Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto "I've received reports in the past that Senator Hasegawa's words are quite harsh, and that they intimidate staff who deal with him." On the 12th, Hasegawa, the controversial Assemblyman, gave an exclusive interview to HBC. We'll take another look at how he responds to the allegations of power harassment. Governor Naomichi Suzuki "Several employees have confirmed that they perceived his behavior as intimidating." Hokkaido's interviews also revealed that several senior officials perceived Hasegawa's behavior as intimidating. At a meeting in Tokyo, Senator Gaku Hasegawa said, "I didn't receive this document. I don't have the document, so I was suddenly asked about it and I don't know what's going on." He said that prefectural officials were criticized because they hadn't done any groundwork with Hasegawa. In response to criticism that such behavior was intimidating to employees, Senator Gaku Hasegawa offered the following explanation: Senator Gaku Hasegawa "When the response to the local community was slow, I often made harsh remarks or got heated up. My office staff strictly warned me that these types of expressions should be avoided." Additionally, according to sources, four senior prefectural officials traveled to Tokyo 70 times last year to explain things to Hasegawa. The total cost amounted to approximately 5.5 million yen. Of this, approximately 20% was for business trips solely to meet with Representative Hasegawa. Furthermore, a senior Hokkaido government official testified, "Sometimes senior officials would suddenly be called in the evening of the previous day and told to 'come by 9 AM the next morning.'" In response, Representative Hasegawa offered the following explanation: Senate Member Hasegawa Gaku "If there was some kind of emergency, like a disaster, that absolutely had to be dealt with, that may be something that Hokkaido would discuss, but for specific, non-urgent matters, like being told to come by 9 AM instead of 5 PM, I'm sorry, but our office cannot handle it." Caster Horiuchi Daiki "Did Mr. Hasegawa ever make such unreasonable requests?" Senate Member Hasegawa Gaku "Basically not." Hokkaido has decided to further investigate the actual circumstances of business trips that involve meetings with Representative Hasegawa, expanding the scope of its staff members. Additionally, the Hokkaido Prefectural Planning Promotion Division sent multiple emails requesting that each department contact Hasegawa to express their gratitude when the national budget was passed. These emails even specified specific timing for staff members traveling to Tokyo, asking them to thank him after the budget was passed if Wi-Fi was available on the plane, or upon arrival at New Chitose Airport if not. This response was a "special response" reserved for Hasegawa alone. Would any inconvenience arise if Hasegawa were not thanked? Senator Gaku Hasegawa "If people say there was any consideration for me or anything like that, that may have been a matter of personal judgment, but if I felt that I had to send an email, including my style of expression, then I will change that as well." And as for his future as a politician... Senator Takeru Hasegawa "I will learn from this incident as the biggest stain on my life and continue to work diligently." While allegations against Hasegawa continue to mount, some Sapporo city officials are also relying on him. One Sapporo city official said, "If you were to ask who else is working so hard on city policies like GX (Green Transformation) and Okadama Airport, there's no one other than Councilman Hasegawa." At a press conference on the 10th, Sapporo Mayor Akimoto stated that "this is not a superior-subordinate relationship" and that he would "not investigate" any possible acts of power harassment. In response, a Sapporo city employee said, "I'm appalled. I feel like they're not protecting their employees." Professor Toru Miyamoto of Hokkaido Bunkyo University point...