Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi last month abruptly dismissed two senior Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry officials he believes were not cooperating with his effort to privatize the postal services.
The rare move in Japan's bureaucrat-dominated politics is creating a stir in Kasumigaseki, the bureaucratic center of Tokyo.
Demoted were Hiroshi Matsui, vice minister for policy coordination in charge of postal and communications affairs, and Hideo Shimizu, director general of the postal services policy planning bureau.