must be enhanced. We will strengthen manpower to respond to people's worries and complaints," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a meeting involving the government and the ruling coalition.
The problem hit computers Sunday at the 130 offices in 23 prefectures, including Kanagawa, Hyogo and Fukuoka, at around 8:30 a.m., when officials were about to turn on their computers before beginning their consultation services at 9:30 a.m.
The system links the host computer in Tokyo to those of offices across Japan and enables staff to refer to insurers' account data.
Due to the glitch, the officials were unable to respond to inquiries for about 2 1/2 hours, until the system fully recovered around 11 a.m.
These offices told people the results of confirmation data would be mailed to them.
"It is very regrettable that the glitch occurred and caused trouble to people who visited the offices," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said. "The government is now trying hard to determine the cause, and will make all-out efforts to prevent such things from happening again."
The system was running normally Monday, according to the agency officials.
It was the first weekend the state agency set up ad hoc pension consultation booths at 309 regional offices nationwide to deal with people concerned about the possible loss of their pension account data.
For related stories:
People fearing pension loss flock to info booths
Why you can't rely on a pension