The government, along with businesses, marked the first business day of fiscal 2018 on Monday, with the former pledging revival after being hit by scandals while some food and beverage producers hiked prices due to increasing personnel and raw material expenses.
The Finance Ministry held a ceremony for 34 new hires in the shadow of the scandal involving the falsification of public documents related to cronyism allegations involving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife.
"We will carry out our job fairly and impartially," said Akane Nakamura, 23, promising a departure from the scandal as she spoke on behalf of the newcomers.