Tokyo governor spent 240,000 yen for one night stay in hotel in Beijing

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Tokyo governor spent 240,000 yen for one night stay in hotel in Beijing

Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro stayed at a suite costing 240,000 yen for one night in his trip to Beijing to just attend the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games. This was revealed by Japanese Communist Party representative Yoshida Nobuo at the March 15 metropolitan assembly meeting.

According to Yoshida, Governor Ishihara Shintaro and his wife spent a night in the most luxurious suite of the Hotel New Otani Chang Fu Gong in Beijing. Ishihara’s wife was provided with 40,000 as spending money to prepare for the trip.

In response to Yoshida, the governor said, “I have never chosen a room to stay in by myself.” Yoshikawa Kazuo, chief of the Headquarters of the Governor of Tokyo, admitted that the large living room in the suite was not used to have a meeting between the governor and important foreign officials.

“There is a small business owner who is hesitating to go to a hospital because he cannot pay the 5,000 yen monthly health insurance premium. The governor must think about the living conditions of such residents and promise not to waste their tax money,” said Yoshida.

Governor Ishihara made trips to Beijing in 2008, as well as Lausanne, Singapore, Berlin, and Copenhagen in 2009 for a bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, spending 143 million yen in total.

- Akahata, March 16, 2010