Japan Press Weekly

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2013 November 27 - December 3 [TOKYO]

Tokyo governor tries to hush up his involvement in money scandal

The Tokyo governor showed reluctance on November 29 to provide a clear explanation in regard to the allegation that he had received an enormous amount of “black money” from a medical corporation.

It has come to light that Governor Inose Naoki received 50 million yen in November 2012 from the owners of the major medical group company Tokushukai. Inose was at that time preparing to run in the gubernatorial election to be held the following month. Tokushukai’s offices were searched in September this year on suspicion of violating the Public Offices Election Law in last December’s general election campaign.

Inose repeated his previous explanations regarding the allegations at the opening plenary session of the metropolitan assembly. He insisted that he “personally borrowed” the money due to “anxiety about his financial future”. Meanwhile, he said that it was his “fault” that he had failed to enter the “loan” in his asset disclosure statement. He made no reference to the fact that his sponsor is subsidized by the metropolitan government.

After the meeting, Japanese Communist Party member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Oyama Tomoko said to reporters, “The governor didn’t tell us anything new today,” and stressed the need to form a special investigation commission in the assembly to look into the issue.

Oyama noted that Inose’s accounts of this scandal were highly suspicious and the public is showing distrust about the “IOU” the governor showed recently. She emphasized again that assemblypersons have a responsibility to clarify the facts by summoning related persons to testify before the special commission.

Past related article:
> Tokyo governor suspected of receiving black money [November 23, 2013]