Japan Press Weekly

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2011 August 24 - 30 [SCANDAL]

New DPJ leader may also be haunted by money scandals

The Democratic Party of Japan’s new leader Noda Yoshihiko has received donations from outlaw corporations, Akahata reported on August 30.

The 2009 political funds report submitted by the DPJ regional branch headed by Noda showed that the government’s political party subsidy, which is taken from tax revenue, and corporate and organizational donations accounted for about 90% of the branch’s income.

The branch received 15 million yen from the government subsidy and about 4.32 million yen in donations from corporations and organizations, including political bodies of the pro-nuclear energy Federation of Electric Power Related Industry Workers’ Unions of Japan and the Tokyo Electric Power Company workers’ union.

Among corporate donors, some have been accused of misconduct.

One of them was a major furniture company. In June 2008, the Japan Fair Trade Commission gave a warning to the company for violation of the Act against Delay in Payment of Subcontract Proceeds.

Two companies which purchased Noda’s fund-raising party tickets in 2007 had relationships with a man who had been arrested together with gangsters for stimulant drug related crimes. The man was also convicted on huge tax evasion.

The tax authority also investigated a software company, which offered Noda 500,000 yen in donations in 2003 and 2005, for dodging taxes.

A cosmetic surgery clinic run by a doctor who was arrested on charge of fatal professional negligence gave a total of 3 million yen in donations to Noda’s fund managing organization for three years since 2008.