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(Thanks @clpearce )
For those of you following the recent news about the SUGA administration rejecting a few recommended appointments to the Science Council of Japan, here is the relevant statute. Appointment-related stuff is at Article 7. https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/viewContents?lawId=323AC0000000121_20150801_000000000000000
For those of you following the recent news about the SUGA administration rejecting a few recommended appointments to the Science Council of Japan, here is the relevant statute. Appointment-related stuff is at Article 7. https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/viewContents?lawId=323AC0000000121_20150801_000000000000000
Surprisingly short regulation on how recommendations referenced in Article 17 work is here. https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/detail?lawId=417M60000002093
Three things I learned from reading the statute: (1) the body is devoted primarily to science, not academia in general; (2) legally the PM makes the appointments; (3) formal protection against politicization is through fixed term appointments (a common feature in such bodies).
So, whether it was wrong for the PM to not appoint certain people who were recommended seems to depend on (1) your interpretation of the words 推薦 (recommend) and 任命 (appoint), respectively and/or (2) the weight you attach to prior practice over what the law says.
This thread by @Okumura_Jun is very informative. https://twitter.com/Okumura_Jun/status/1311790590779027456?s=20
