Japan Press Weekly

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2015 April 29 - May 12 [POLITICS]

Dentists’ political group investigated for illegal political donations

The Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on April 30 searched an office of a dentists’ political organization on suspicion of illegal donations it may have made to a supporters’ group of a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker.

According to the public prosecution authority, the organization, the Japan Dental Federation, donated a total of 95 million yen to the supporters’ group of LDP member of the House of Councilors Ishii Midori in violation of the Political Funds Control Act. The group was headed by Japan Dental Federation President Takagi Mikimasa.

The Political Funds Control Act stipulates that the amount of donations from and to political organizations should be no more than 50 million yen a year.

Regarding this issue, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Yamashita Yoshiki on the same day said to the press that corporate and organizational political donations should be banned in order to eliminate the root cause of political corruption. Stating that the party submitted to the Diet a bill to introduce the ban, Yamashita expressed his intention to call on other political parties to have the bill enacted.