The head of the Japan Coast Guard should be held responsible for the leak on the Internet of classified video footage showing the Sept. 7 collisions involving a Chinese trawler and Japanese patrol vessels near the Senkaku Islands, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku indicated Wednesday.
Sengoku, one of the most powerful members in the Cabinet, said at a news conference that investigative bodies such as the coast guard and prosecutors should accept responsibility, as they operate free from political influence and have considerable powers.
The top government spokesman made the remarks after a coast guardsman admitted Wednesday leaking the footage on YouTube.
Other senior ruling party lawmakers also said JCG Commandant Hisayasu Suzuki cannot avoid resigning to take the blame for the leak last week of six video clips running for a total of 44 minutes.
Opposition lawmakers, meanwhile, have been applying more pressure on Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government, saying it does not have a proper grip on information management.
Meanwhile, the coast guard in Kobe said it received more than 300 e-mails and telephone calls urging the coast guard to "stop a manhunt." Many of the messages were supportive of the release of the video on the Internet, it said.