On November 24, 1997, the president of Yamaichi Securities, Nozawa Shōhei, faced reporters at the Tokyo Stock Exchange as the firm announced it would close. In tears, he apologized and said: Shain wa waruku arimasen kara! The employees are not to blame!
Accounts of his exact words differ. Another version has him say: “We are the ones at fault, so the employees are not to blame.”
In 1582, Hideyoshi’s army besieged Takamatsu Castle, held by Shimizu Muneharu for the Mōri clan. Hideyoshi offered peace on terms that included Muneharu’s death. Muneharu offered his own life in exchange for the lives of the castle’s soldiers.
On the fourth day of the sixth month, he cut himself open on a boat before the castle. His farewell poem reads: Ukiyo o ba ima koso watare mononofu no na o Takamatsu no koke ni nokoshite. Now I cross this fleeting world, leaving a warrior’s name in the moss of Takamatsu.
In July 1964, Matsushita Kōnosuke, the founder of Matsushita Electric, met the sales companies and dealers that sold his products at Atami. After the meeting, he gave his conclusion: Matsushita Denki ga warukatta, kono ichigo ni tsukiru. Matsushita Electric was at fault, and that says it all.
In August, he took over the duties of head of sales himself. A new sales system started in February 1965.
On August 14, 1985, two days after the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123, JAL president Takagi Yasumoto announced that he would resign.
In October 1985, a secretary to Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro wrote in a memo that it was not acceptable for Takagi alone to take responsibility for the accident and leave it at that.
On September 7, 2025, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru announced his resignation. Newspapers reported that he was taking responsibility for his party’s heavy defeat in the House of Councillors election. Support inside the party for what amounted to a recall of the party president had been growing.
An article on Nippon.com described a kind of unwritten rule in the Liberal Democratic Party. A party president who loses an election takes responsibility and steps down.
On September 8, 2008, Kitanoumi, chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, announced his resignation. Two Russian wrestlers, the brothers Rōhō and Hakurozan, had been banned from sumo for life for alleged marijuana use. Kitanoumi was Hakurozan’s mentor. He resigned to take responsibility for the scandal.
In 2000, milk products from Snow Brand caused mass food poisoning in the Kansai region, with 14,780 people affected. Pressed by reporters, president Ishikawa Tetsurō snapped: Sonna koto ittatte nē, watashi wa nete inai n da yo!! “Say what you like, I haven’t slept!”
He apologized at once. The exchange was broadcast widely and drew public condemnation. After the press conference, all Snow Brand Group products were pulled from sale for a time.
In October 1944, Vice Admiral Ōnishi Takijirō ordered the first special attacks, the kamikaze missions, against American forces landing at Leyte. In the early hours of August 16, 1945, the day after the surrender broadcast, he took his own life.
His note begins: “To the heroic spirits of the special attack units. You fought well, and I thank you deeply.” It continues: “With my death, I seek to apologize to the spirits of my former men and to their families.”
In 1701, Asano Naganori, lord of Akō, drew his sword on the court official Kira Yoshinaka inside Edo Castle. Asano was made to commit seppuku the same day.
Early on December 15, 1702, forty-seven of his former retainers attacked Kira’s mansion in Edo. They then went to report to their lord’s grave at Sengakuji. On February 4, 1703, they committed seppuku on the shogunate’s orders. The story lives on as Chūshingura, which differs in many ways from the historical events.
Inseki jinin (引責辞任): resigning to take responsibility, sekinin o totte jinin suru.
A Japanese-English dictionary of usage illustrates the term with news examples. Eleven board members of an audit firm resign after three of its auditors are indicted over false financial statements at Kanebo. The manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions resigns to take responsibility for five years without a championship.