Despite the announcement Wednesday of Foreign Ministry reform plans and the lifting Monday of a "freeze" on personnel transfers, the standoff between Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and senior bureaucrats is showing no signs of abating.
Tanaka publicly blames elite officials of the ministry for leaking information on a series of talks with her overseas counterparts, saying bureaucrats frustrated in the wake of a major embezzlement scandal are blabbing to the media and hurting the national interest.
She is also hinting at the involvement of her rival lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.