Liberal Japan

Allegations of improper office expenditures emerge against Chief Cabinet Secretary
It was revealed Friday that the Japan Communist Party’s daily organ “Akahata” (red flag) are set to publish a report on irregularities in Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki’s support groups’ office expenditures. Shiozaki denied the allegations at a press conference held at the Kantei, saying: “I have done nothing against the law,” the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. The allegations come only 9 days before the Japanese upper house election and only 2 weeks after similar accusations were directed against Farm Minister Akagi Norihiko, and a week after the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presented new rules for dealing with political funding …

This is not the kind of story the LDP want to have breaking in the final week of an important election. So far the reaction has been tame. However, let’s see what happens once the JCP releases their full report. If the story manages to grab front page headlines then that should be enough to push the final swing voters over towards the DPJ. Thank you to Donald for pointing out this story.