OSAKA — If Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto has his way, employees now working on international human rights issues may become school security guards and a popular women's center will be sold off.
These are just two proposals for keeping Osaka Prefecture from declaring bankruptcy among many he has floated since taking office in early February. But growing anger among bureaucrats, citizens' groups, and opposition politicians toward the governor's actions has even his supporters wondering whether Hashimoto, 38, has the political skills needed to achieve his agenda.
Osaka Prefecture, which has nearly ¥5 trillion in total debts, is, in Hashimoto's words, all but bankrupt.