Japan's auto recall enforcement division, whose 16 members work from a cramped office on the eighth floor of the transport ministry building, only found out about safety issues with Takata Corp. air bags in late 2008 — more than three years after the company says it first learned there were problems.
The ministry, which acts as Japan's safety regulator, then took a largely passive approach to the crisis unfolding in the United States — Takata's biggest market where more than 10 million cars have since been recalled — rubber-stamping recall filings by automakers after incidents reported abroad.
"We had no idea there were already accidents in the United States, so there was no reason for us to be concerned at the time," said Masato Sahashi, director of the recall office.