Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2014 January 8 - 14 [POLITICS]

LDP has close ties with scandal-tainted Tokushukai

Inose Naoki resigned as Tokyo governor over his money scandal involving medical corporation Tokushukai. However, those who benefited most from Tokushukai are politicians of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

According to 2012 political funding reports, member of the House of Representatives Tokuda Takeshi whose father is Tokushukai President Tokuda Torao bought a total of about 4.3 million yen of fund-raising party tickets from 90 LDP lawmakers through his political fund management organization.

These Diet members include LDP Secretary General Ishiba Shigeru and seven cabinet ministers, including Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Tamura Norihisa.

Vice Chair of the LDP Diet Affairs Committee Otsuka Takashi sold 200,000 yen of his party tickets to Tokuda and received one million yen in political donations from an affiliated company of Tokushukai. LDP member of the House of Representatives Saito Hiroaki also accepted one million yen from the company.

Lower House member Sonoura Kentaro sold 500,000 yen of his fund-raising party tickets to Tokuda and accepted workers of a Tokushukai-affiliated hospital as volunteer staff for Sonoura’s election campaign.

At Tokuda’s political fund-raising party in December 2012, Prime Minister and LDP President Abe Shinzo in his speech said that Tokuda is the hope to the future of the LDP as well as Japan. Shortly after that, Abe appointed Tokuda as parliamentary secretary in charge of infrastructure and Tohoku’s reconstruction.

The LDP, as a ruling party, should be held accountable for its relationship with Tokushukai.