After being tapped as administrative reform minister, Taro Kono has wasted little time in waging war on emblems of Japan’s bureaucratic red tape — first hanko personal seals and now the fax machine.
Streamlining administrative work, eliminating vested interests and pushing for a shift toward digitization are among the much-hyped pledges underpinning the identity of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s fledgling administration.
On Friday, Kono said his ongoing crusade against hanko — which is often cited as a factor behind the rigmarole of municipal paperwork in Japan — will go a long way toward phasing out the nation’s entrenched fixation on fax, another low-tech practice that's hampering efforts to go paperless.