Japan’s Cybersecurity Minister says never used a computer

A Japanese Minister, Yoshitaka Sakurada in charge of the Government’s cybersecurity strategy has drawn controversy after admitting that he has never used a computer.

Sakurada, 68, said this during a parliamentary session that he has never used a computer in his life, as he “has been doing business independently since 25 years old and has been giving instructions to staff and secretaries.’’

When asked by independent lawmaker Masato Imai about how a man who does not use computers could be responsible for cybersecurity measures, Sakurada said that cybersecurity is “a matter that should be dealt with by the government as a whole’’ and that he is confident that he is not at fault.

Sakurada was appointed the minister in charge of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as cyber minister in October in a Cabinet reshuffled after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was re-elected head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The minister from the ruling LDP has been known for a long time for his ill-advised comments, most notably in 2016 when he claimed that “comfort women,’’ women forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II, were “prostitutes by occupation.’’

He later retracted the remarks.