Japan Press Weekly

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2007 February 21 - 27 [POLITICS]

Tokyo government planned to pay governor 1 million yen for his script to be used in its event

At the February 22 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly meeting, Japanese Communist Party representative Sone Hajime revealed that the metropolitan government had planned to pay Governor Ishihara Shintaro 1 million yen for writing a script for a metropolitan government-hosted event.

Ishihara has already been faced with severe public criticism for manipulating the metropolitan government for his own benefit.

Sone criticized Ishihara’s wasteful use of tax money, saying, “Governor, you have lost your basic moral sense.”

The Metropolitan government earmarked 1 million yen as payment for a script written by Governor Ishihara for the “Noh-Opera” performance organized as part of Tokyo’s art projects. The payment was not made due to the cancellation of the event.

In reply to Sone’s question, Ishihara said, “I had an idea for a script, so I proposed taking on the job.” Ishihara took a defiant attitude by saying, “1 million yen is cheap for my script.”

Sone also criticized the metropolitan government for paying Ishihara’s son, Nobuteru, more than 2 million yen for his overseas trips in preparation for the event.

Sone demanded that the metropolitan government stop appointing Ishihara’s son to positions in its projects.