Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kunio Hatoyama handed a business improvement order April 3 to Japan Post Holdings Co. President Yoshifumi Nishikawa over the dubious planned "fire sale" of the group's Kampo no Yado hotels.

The order is the culmination of the ministry's complaints against Japan Post. The company signed a contract to sell the hotels and other facilities in a single package to Orix Real Estate Corp., a unit of major leasing firm Orix Corp., for ¥10.9 billion, when it cost ¥240 billion to build them.

The sales contract was canceled in February after Hatoyama criticized the deal for lacking transparency.