Priest enlightened himself of the burdens incurred when paying for insurance.

I think most of us view Buddhist priests as centered people who aren’t swayed by the materialistic temptations that cause some to commit crime. But much like snowflakes, all Buddhist priests are unique creations of their own karma, and there are even some who end up going on a nationwide spending spree with someone else’s health insurance card.

Buddhist priest Terukazu Hirokaga was arrested after he was caught impersonating another man by using his insurance during a hospital visit in Osaka to get treatment and prescription medicine. The 55-year-old Hirokaga claims he had found the card belonging to a man in his 60s on the street in Tokyo.

The thing about illegally using a health insurance card is that there is a very clear-cut paper trail, and police could quickly ascertain that he had used the card 115 times since March 2024, in a number of cities, including Okayama and Kyoto. Hirokaga reportedly admitted that he intentionally used it in different locations to avoid detection.

▼ Apparently, even while he was making this video of himself playing the flute very beautifully, he was out and about hitting up different medical centers.

In Japan, everyone is required to have a health insurance card and pay into the national insurance system either through their company or individually. These plans generally cover 70 percent of hospital bills, with the remainder paid directly by the patient. Some people do not make their insurance payments and therefore do not have a valid card of their own. In that case, they can rejoin the system only if they pay two years’ worth of past payments at once, which makes some hesitant to rejoin unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Actually, the government officially stopped issuing health insurance cards last year, but still honor ones that haven’t expired yet. Instead, the duty has been transferred to the MyNumber card, a type of social insurance card that the government hopes to be used for everything from healthcare to driver’s licenses. One key difference is that a MyNumber card has a photo on it and requires either a PIN or facial scan to use, whereas a health insurance card does neither.

▼ MyNumber cards also have chips to sync with your phone and other devices.

It’s unclear why Hirokaga didn’t have his own card. According to reports, he was “on leave” (“kyugochu”) at the time of his arrest. This means that he still retained the rank of priest but was not affiliated with a temple. This could be due to a variety of reasons, such as him feeling professionally burned out or his former temple having fallen on hard times.

Whatever the case, many readers of the news online felt this was a clear case of how the MyNumber card is superior to traditional insurance cards. Others wondered if this priest was really holier than whosoever.

“He probably got insurance through his temple before he left.”
“That’s exactly why we need to use MyNumber…”
“This never would have happened with the MyNumber card.”
“I want him to shave his head and reflect on his actions.”
“How did they even manage to catch him if he didn’t do anything strange?”
“Who just picks up an insurance card like that? I wonder if that’s how he really got it.”
“115 times? The police should check if he was selling some of that medication.”

The fact that he went to a hospital 115 times in two years, averaging about once a week, is rather suspicious and likely a factor in how he got caught. For the time being, his reasons for doing this remain between him and his eighth consciousness, but perhaps police will be able to pierce the maya and uncover the seeds of his transgression.

Source: FNN Prime Online, Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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