March 6, 2011
Sunday edition
In Yamanashi Prefecture, local newspapers have widely covered the alleged fabrication of a report on overseas “study tours” made by prefectural assembly members of the Liberal Democratic Party. This was first revealed by Kogoshi Tomoko, the only representative of the Japanese Communist Party in the local assembly.
The prefectural assembly of Yamanashi maintains the “all-are-ruling-party” structure in which all the other 37 members except the JCP representative support the governor’s policies.
In January 2010, the LDP members made a “study tour” to Washington D.C. and New York. In a report on the overseas trip they submitted to the assembly, a 6-page report with photos on New York wines was found to be exactly the same as an article with photos on the website of “Nikkei Trendy Net.” It was originally written by a Japanese journalist living in the U.S. on September 10, 2008.
JCP member Kogoshi on February 23 revealed the plagiarism and requested the assembly chair to investigate into the matter.
The prefectural government gives assembly members up to 900,000 yen each for overseas business trips per tenure. Since 2007, 22 members used this system, amounting to 18.39 million yen in total.
Many of places the three LDP members visited during their 2010 trip were well-known tourist sites such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Statue of Liberty in New York. “It was nothing but a sightseeing trip,” said Yamamoto Daiji, representing the Liaison Council of Citizens’ Ombudsman in Yamanashi.
“The fabrication of the report has made clear that assembly members’ study tours are meaningless for residents,” said Kogoshi. For four years since her election, she has repeatedly requested the assembly chair to abolish the funding for assembly members’ overseas trips.
Yamamoto’s ombudsman group on February 14 asked the local government’s audit committee to examine a total of 8.5 million yen spent for overseas trips by 11 prefectural assembly members.
As the only JCP representative in the local assembly, Kogoshi has also helped to eliminate other forms of wasteful use of tax money by the local government.
She was the only assembly member who refused to receive the money the prefectural government has given its members just for attending assembly meetings (10,000 to 14,400 yen a day). Pushed by petitions and signature drives Kogoshi conducted with residents, the prefectural assembly decided to pay its members only for their transportation, leading to the reduction of the expenditure by 2.5 million yen annually.
The JCP representative voluntarily released all the receipts showing how she used policy research funds. In response to her continuous calls, the prefectural assembly in FY 2008 started to require its members to attach receipts to their political funds reports.
Nagata Kayoko, a member of the ombudsman group said, “The JCP can question assembly members’ privileged use of tax money because it is corruption-free. I hope it will become stronger and lead to a reform of the assembly.”
In Yamanashi Prefecture, local newspapers have widely covered the alleged fabrication of a report on overseas “study tours” made by prefectural assembly members of the Liberal Democratic Party. This was first revealed by Kogoshi Tomoko, the only representative of the Japanese Communist Party in the local assembly.
The prefectural assembly of Yamanashi maintains the “all-are-ruling-party” structure in which all the other 37 members except the JCP representative support the governor’s policies.
In January 2010, the LDP members made a “study tour” to Washington D.C. and New York. In a report on the overseas trip they submitted to the assembly, a 6-page report with photos on New York wines was found to be exactly the same as an article with photos on the website of “Nikkei Trendy Net.” It was originally written by a Japanese journalist living in the U.S. on September 10, 2008.
JCP member Kogoshi on February 23 revealed the plagiarism and requested the assembly chair to investigate into the matter.
The prefectural government gives assembly members up to 900,000 yen each for overseas business trips per tenure. Since 2007, 22 members used this system, amounting to 18.39 million yen in total.
Many of places the three LDP members visited during their 2010 trip were well-known tourist sites such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Statue of Liberty in New York. “It was nothing but a sightseeing trip,” said Yamamoto Daiji, representing the Liaison Council of Citizens’ Ombudsman in Yamanashi.
“The fabrication of the report has made clear that assembly members’ study tours are meaningless for residents,” said Kogoshi. For four years since her election, she has repeatedly requested the assembly chair to abolish the funding for assembly members’ overseas trips.
Yamamoto’s ombudsman group on February 14 asked the local government’s audit committee to examine a total of 8.5 million yen spent for overseas trips by 11 prefectural assembly members.
As the only JCP representative in the local assembly, Kogoshi has also helped to eliminate other forms of wasteful use of tax money by the local government.
She was the only assembly member who refused to receive the money the prefectural government has given its members just for attending assembly meetings (10,000 to 14,400 yen a day). Pushed by petitions and signature drives Kogoshi conducted with residents, the prefectural assembly decided to pay its members only for their transportation, leading to the reduction of the expenditure by 2.5 million yen annually.
The JCP representative voluntarily released all the receipts showing how she used policy research funds. In response to her continuous calls, the prefectural assembly in FY 2008 started to require its members to attach receipts to their political funds reports.
Nagata Kayoko, a member of the ombudsman group said, “The JCP can question assembly members’ privileged use of tax money because it is corruption-free. I hope it will become stronger and lead to a reform of the assembly.”
