 Tokyo's LDP, Komei, DPJ assembly members visit casinos using public money Alleging that this is an official trip to "inspect how casinos are managed," members of the Tokyo Metropolitan assembly from the ruling Liberal Democratic, Komei, and Democratic parties traveled Las Vegas and Monte Carlo, staying for a few days in a five-star hotel. An assembly member used as much as 2.18 million yen for one trip. The Japanese Communist Party's assembly members group in Tokyo revealed this at the press conference on May 10. Yoshida Nobuo, JCP group secretary general, criticized these parties for wasting taxpayers' money on their overseas sightseeing tour, while supporting the use of 2 trillion yen for the unnecessary Tokyo Bay area development. The Tokyo Metropolitan government under Governor Ishihara Shintaro has a plan to use the waterfront for casinos. When some LDP assembly members visited Milan, Italy on November 23, 2003, they "inspected" Duomo Cathedral, the San Siro racing track, and other popular tourist spots, though studying about sightseeing and Light Rail Transit in Milan was their stated purpose. Another party of the LDP made a two-day trip to Monte Carlo to "learn how to administer casinos." Some Democratic Party members spent two nights on a similar "inspection tour" in Las Vegas in 2002. They reported that they saw a dealer training house and related facilities that can easily be found in guide books. Nine such extravagant tours were organized in the past four years; four times by the LDP and the DPJ each, one by the Komei. A total of 38 assembly members took part in the "study tour"; 23 LDP, 12 DPJ, and 3 Komei. These cost 56.45 million yen in total, or 1.48 million yen for each person on average. A Democratic Party member used 2.18 million yen in 2004 in tax money for such trips. An LDP members in 2002 paid an interpreter and tour guide 60,000 yen a day in Vietnam, where the average monthly income stands at 10,000 yen and a typical tour charges about 2,500 yen for a Japanese-speaking Vietnamese guide and 4,000 yen for an interpreter per day. The JCP demanded that such wasteful and personal tours must end, so the Metropolitan assembly in 1997 decided to stop them, but they were resumed in 2001 with minor changes. - Akahata, May 11, 2005 |