Japan Press Weekly

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2016 November 30 - December 6 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Top 10 defense companies donate 126 million yen to LDP

The top 10 munitions companies in Japan which receive large contracts from the Defense Ministry contributed about 126 million yen to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in 2015, Akahata reported on December 4. This reveals the close relationship between the LDP and the defense industry.

Akahata examined the 2015 political funds report recently released by the Internal Affairs Ministry to find how much money these 10 companies donated to the governing party. The largest amount was 33 million yen by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, followed by Sumitomo Corporation (24 million yen) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (18.2 million yen).

The total amount of munitions contracts with domestic providers increased from 1.27 trillion yen in 2013 to approximately 1.81 trillion yen in 2015. The top 10 firms’ contract costs accounted for more than half of the total in 2015.

These companies provide the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) with various defense equipment; patrol planes, escort vessels, high explosive projectiles, and short-range ground-to-air missiles. In 2015, the Abe government set up the ATLA as an agency attached to the Defense Ministry in order to centralize the procurement and maintenance of military equipment.