Japan Press Weekly

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2023 November 22 - 28 [POLITICS]

All political parties except for JCP depend on gov’t subsidies

The Internal Affairs Ministry on November 24 released a report on political funds for 2022 for each political party and political organization.

The ministry data indicated that government subsidies to political parties accounted for the major part of revenues of all political parties except for the Japanese Communist Party.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party received about 16 billion yen in state subsidies, accounting for 64.3% of its total income. The LDP’s coalition partner, Komei Party received nearly three billion yen and its dependency rate of government subsidies is 21.8%.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan depended on state subsidies for 74.1% of its total income. The “Ishin no Kai” party, which advocates cuts in government spending, relied on tax-funded subsidy for 72.3% of the total revenue. The percentage of subsidies to the total revenue was 85.7% for the Democratic Party for the People, 64.1% for the “Reiwa” party, and 53% for the Social Democratic Party.

In contrast, the JCP refuses to accept government subsidies on the grounds that the subsidy system costs every Japanese citizen 250 yen a year irrespective of their political affiliation, which constitutes a violation of constitutional freedom of thought. The JCP covers all its activities with membership dues, Akahata subscription fees, and personal donations.

According to the JCP political funds report, the party earned about 19.1 billion yen (5.3 % lower than last year) and spent about 19.4 billion yen (3.7% lower). The party carried over about 1.1 billion yen.

Business activities in relation to the publication of Akahata and other journals and magazines accounted for 87.2% of the total income and 63.2% of the total expenditures. The JCP last year received about nearly 500 million yen in political donations from individuals.

JCP Financial and Management Commission Chair Iwai Tetsuya said that the JCP financial report shows that the party is closely connected with people at the grassroots level through its activities centering on Akahata.