Japan Press Weekly

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2007 November 7 - 13 [SDF]

Former Defense chief suspected of being entertained by organization funded by tax money and military industry: JCP Daimon

Nukaga Fukushiro, the finance minister and former Defense Agency director general, is suspected of having been entertained by a Japanese organization jointly funded by tax money and the Japanese military industry when he attended the Japan-U.S. Security Strategy Conference, a private-sector conference to help strengthen the Japan-U.S. military alliance held every year in Washington D.C., revealed Japanese Communist Party representative Daimon Mikishi in the November 6 House of Councilors Financial Affairs Committee meeting.

Daimon disclosed that the Japan-U.S. Center for Peace and Cultural Exchange, an incorporated association, has received a total of 43 million yen in government subsidies since 1998 for travel expenses of Dietmembers participating in the conference from the Japan Foundation, an independent administrative agency.

This year, the Japanese delegation attending the conference stayed in Washington for 11 days in April and May.

Stressing that Dietmembers must pay for their trips if not on official duty, Daimon asked Nukaga, who has attended the conference since 2004, if he paid for his travel expenses.

In reply, Nukaga said, “I paid the participation fee.”

Daimon said, “The delegation should have spent over one million yen per delegate since they stayed at a luxury hotel. An official of the Japan-U.S. Center said that each Dietmember paid only 200,000 yen as the participation fee, the amount that could not cover even the airfare. The participants were in fact entertained by the incorporated association that is financially supported by the government and military industry.”

The “Japan-U.S. Security Strategy Conference” has been held every year in Washington and Tokyo with the participation of Japanese Dietmembers in favor of military buildup, Defense Ministry officials, members of the U.S. Congress, and officials of the U.S. Department of Defense with the financial support of the military industry sector of both countries.

The Japan-U.S. Center for Peace and Cultural Exchange is an incorporated association under the supervision of the Foreign Ministry. Ishiba Shigeru and Kyuma Fumio, the present and former defense ministers, have served as board members, and many other pro-military Dietmembers are involved in its activities. Executives of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries as well as scandal-ridden Yamada Corporation have also taken part in and given donations to this association. - Akahata, November 7, 2007