The Justice Ministry has disciplined 29 immigration officers over a series of mostly unpublicized offenses that include forgery of official documents, street fighting and a double vehicular hit-and-run that resulted in a two-month pay cut.
Kyodo News learned of the disciplinary measures, which cover a six-year period from 1997 to 2002, through information obtained under the freedom-of-information law.
The Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau, which has been tainted by allegations of violence against foreigners in custody and coverups of administrative snafus, claimed the bureau had no intention of concealing the information.
Officials said the disciplinary measures were not made public out of concern for staff privacy and the nature of some of the incidents.