Police search Toyama City Hall over census inflation claims
The internal affairs ministry said that Toyama's population had been padded by at least 2,000, and that city staff members may have been involved.
Toyama - Police conducted a search of the city hall on Saturday in connection with allegations that staff inflated the population figures for the 2025 census. Around ten investigators from the Toyama Prefectural Police arrived at the building on Saturday morning, escorted by cardboard boxes, and proceeded to the fifth floor where the census-related division is situated.
Earlier that week, the internal affairs ministry had filed a criminal complaint against unidentified city employees for violating the statistics law. According to the ministry's final report, the city's population was 399,197, a decrease from the preliminary figure of 402,133 released in May. The ministry concluded that Toyama's population had been inflated by at least 2,000 individuals, implicating several city staff members.
Mayor Hirohisa Fujii dismissed claims that the inflation was aimed at maintaining a population above 400,000, stating that there were no directives from senior officials to manipulate the numbers. He emphasized that he would be held accountable at the appropriate time. The preliminary population figure was crucial for determining local allocation tax grants for the fiscal year 2026.
Estimates suggest that Toyama may have received around ¥60 million more than it was due to the inflated figure. Mayor Fujii expressed that the police search was taken seriously and that the city would cooperate fully with the investigation.
Written by urgent.news from Japan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
