Gov't spent Y67,000 per head on Naha town meeting

The government disbursed some 16 million yen in total, or about 67,000 yen per participant, for a so-called 'town meeting dialogue with voters in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture in October last year to discuss reform of Japan's judicial system, government documents showed Tuesday.

The documents compiled by the Cabinet Office also show that the government spent another 12 million yen, or 56,000 yen per participant, for a similar session on judicial reform in the city of Miyazaki last March. A total of 242 citizens joined the Naha dialogue while 212 took part in the Miyazaki session. In both sessions, the government deployed an excessive number of staffers and used larger halls — with seating capacity of some 500 people — than required for the number of participants, the documents show.