Japan’s ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is facing its worst corruption scandal in over three decades. Investigators are looking into claims that ministers and legislators received kickbacks in exchange for campaign contributions generated at campaign rally events. Subsequently, LDP politicians funneled millions of dollars from fundraising proceeds into undisclosed slush funds, failing to … Read more
Japanese conservatives found a trustworthy ally in the late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Abe’s conservative bona fides – represented by his revisionist views on historical memory and what should be taught in history classrooms, his hawkish stance toward North Korea, and his relentless attack on the Japanese post-war governing structure, which he scorned as the … Read more
Nippon Ishin no kai, Japan’s third largest political force, seems to be everything to everyone. While championing itself as an enforcer of “small government” by advocating for deregulation and reducing the number of elective officials, it also promotes free tuition and universal basic income – both expensive policies that would require more “government.” Also, when … Read more
Japan’s government is in disarray thanks to an unfolding list of lawmakers who failed to report some of their income in their political fund statements. This week the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presented a list of 82 lawmakers, belonging to three different factions, who pocketed millions of dollars in kickbacks from political party fundraising … Read more
The resignation of four cabinet ministers in the most serious political corruption scandal in recent memory begs for a certain appraisal of affairs. In the past year and a half, Japan has been going through a spectacular series of corruption incidents and fraud at the highest levels of government and industry, eroding an already brittle … Read more
A college professor’s criminal complaint about the Liberal Democratic Party’s sloppy bookkeeping resulted in some of the most influential LDP members being purged from the Kishida Cabinet and the party leadership. After conducting meticulous research, Hiroyuki Kamiwaki of Kobe Gakuin University found out that the members of the leadership of the so-called Abe faction, the … Read more
It was the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack when we met House of Representatives member, former Defense Minister, and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) heavyweight Ishiba Shigeru in his office in Nagatacho. Another battle was brewing that day. A scandal-driven frenzy in the Japanese Diet over the secret slush funds of LDP factions, or habatsu, … Read more
Japan’s ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is at the center of a financial misconduct scandal that threatens to drag down public approval ratings and paralyze the Kishida administration. The LDP’s largest political faction, named after assassinated former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, is alleged to have failed to report as much as $700,000 from … Read more
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is reeling under a political finance scandal that looks set to force a second reshuffle of Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s Cabinet in three months. Japanese politicians typically host fundraising events, where attendees pay to buy tickets. The various LDP factions set quotas for how much money each legislator must raise … Read more
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s plummeting popularity is raising serious questions about his future prospects. While successfully steering Japan on a course toward major military power status and global diplomatic prominence, his domestic political fortunes have never been more in doubt. A stark contrast is becoming apparent between Kishida’s successes in the conduct of Japan’s … Read more