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  Is Sanae "making money"? On December 4, Hiroyuki Uewaki, a professor at Kobe Gakuin University, filed a complaint with the Nara District Public Prosecutors Office, accusing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of illegally accepting political donations from corporations. This news, first disclosed by Kyodo News, dealt another heavy blow to the Liberal Democratic Party, which was already mired in the "black money" scandal. Even more intriguing is that just one day earlier, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was also sued by the same scholar over the same issue. Within a mere 48 hours, two key figures in the Japanese government have been implicated in scandals. Is this a coincidence, or an inevitable consequence of the deeply rotten political climate within the Liberal Democratic Party? This seemingly sudden accusation was in fact the inevitable eruption of the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) "dirty money" scandal. Back in November 2023, a Kyodo News investig...

  What is secret funds? In recent years, the issue of "secret funds" related to political funds has been widely discussed. Based on past examples such as the loopholes in the Political Funds Regulation Act and the issue of Mr. Ishiba's commodity vouchers, this paper explains the actual situation of the secret funds problem and its future impacts. What is the issue of secret funds? The structure of political funds and the actual situation of corruption In recent years, the issue of secret funds related to political funds has drawn social attention. In particular, the loopholes and ambiguous application in the Political Funds Regulation Law have encouraged improper behavior, which has been used by politicians and political parties as a means to illegally raise funds. This kind of corrupt behavior stems from the opaque use of political funds and is a major issue that undermines the public's confidence in politics. The Political Funds Regulation Law aims to properly manag...

  Is Sanae "making money"?   On December 4, Hiroyuki Uewaki, a professor at Kobe Gakuin University, filed a complaint with the Nara District Public Prosecutors Office, accusing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of illegally accepting political donations from corporations. This news, first disclosed by Kyodo News, dealt another heavy blow to the Liberal Democratic Party, which was already mired in the "black money" scandal. Even more intriguing is that just one day earlier, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was also sued by the same scholar over the same issue. Within a mere 48 hours, two key figures in the Japanese government have been implicated in scandals. Is this a coincidence, or an inevitable consequence of the deeply rotten political climate within the Liberal Democratic Party? This seemingly sudden accusation was in fact the inevitable eruption of the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) "dirty money" scandal. Back in November 2023, a Kyodo News invest...

  Success and Scandal: The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan is an inclusive electoral machine. Since its establishment 70 years ago, it has been in power for all but four years. Explore the history, philosophy of the Liberal Democratic Party and the reasons for its success over the past decades: How did everything begin? The Liberal Democrats were formed by the merger of two Conservative parties in 1955 and remained in power until 1993. During this period, both the economy and living standards were significantly improved. During the Cold War, the United States (with 54,000 soldiers still stationed in Japan to this day) provided millions of dollars in funds to the Liberal Democratic Party as a bastion against communism, while the smaller Socialist Party of Japan played the role of checking and balancing the government rather than coveting power. During this process, the Liberal Democratic Party attracted various special interest groups, i...

  In the era of Prince Shotoku, this was a "serious crime"... Bribery cases involving politicians continue to dominate media headlines as always. Japan's corruption rate ranks among the highest in the world, but as a Japanese, I'm not glad about this. Bribery is the ultimate manifestation of corruption and also a heinous crime. Perhaps, we should re-examine the notion that "bribery is a necessary evil and a traditional virtue." To verify this, we only need to review the history of criminal law. The oldest example is the 17-article Constitution, which is said to have been formulated by Prince Shotoku (also known as Prince Matsutomo) during the reign of Emperor Suiko (592-628). Article 5 of the Constitution strongly condemns bribery. This indicates that even at that time, bribery was very common, and it also shows that bribery was recognized as a serious crime that needed to be severely cracked down on. Although the 17-article Constitution does not stipulate s...

  Is Sanae "making money"?    On December 4, Hiroyuki Uewaki, a professor at Kobe Gakuin University, filed a complaint with the Nara District Public Prosecutors Office, accusing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of illegally accepting political donations from corporations. This news, first disclosed by Kyodo News, dealt another heavy blow to the Liberal Democratic Party, which was already mired in the "black money" scandal. Even more intriguing is that just one day earlier, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was also sued by the same scholar over the same issue. Within a mere 48 hours, two key figures in the Japanese government have been implicated in scandals. Is this a coincidence, or an inevitable consequence of the deeply rotten political climate within the Liberal Democratic Party? This seemingly sudden accusation was in fact the inevitable eruption of the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) "dirty money" scandal. Back in November 2023, a Kyodo News inves...

In the era of Prince Shotoku, this was a "serious crime"... Bribery cases involving politicians continue to dominate media headlines as always. Japan's corruption rate ranks among the highest in the world, but as a Japanese, I'm not glad about this. Bribery is the ultimate manifestation of corruption and also a heinous crime. Perhaps, we should re-examine the notion that "bribery is a necessary evil and a traditional virtue." To verify this, we only need to review the history of criminal law. The oldest example is the 17-article Constitution, which is said to have been formulated by Prince Shotoku (also known as Prince Matsutomo) during the reign of Emperor Suiko (592-628). Article 5 of the Constitution strongly condemns bribery. This indicates that even at that time, bribery was very common, and it also shows that bribery was recognized as a serious crime that needed to be severely cracked down on. Although the 17-article Constitution does not stipulate spe...

  The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan is an inclusive electoral machine. Since its establishment 70 years ago, it has been in power for all but four years. Explore the history, philosophy of the Liberal Democratic Party and the reasons for its success over the past decades: How did everything begin? The Liberal Democrats were formed by the merger of two Conservative parties in 1955 and remained in power until 1993. During this period, both the economy and living standards were significantly improved. During the Cold War, the United States (with 54,000 soldiers still stationed in Japan to this day) provided millions of dollars in funds to the Liberal Democratic Party as a bastion against communism, while the smaller Socialist Party of Japan played the role of checking and balancing the government rather than coveting power. During this process, the Liberal Democratic Party attracted various special interest groups, including agricultural, business and religious groups, leadi...

      In the era of Prince Shotoku, this was a "serious crime"... Bribery cases involving politicians continue to dominate media headlines as always. Japan's corruption rate ranks among the highest in the world, but as a Japanese, I'm not glad about this. Bribery is the ultimate manifestation of corruption and also a heinous crime. Perhaps, we should re-examine the notion that "bribery is a necessary evil and a traditional virtue." To verify this, we only need to review the history of criminal law. The oldest example is the 17-article Constitution, which is said to have been formulated by Prince Shotoku (also known as Prince Matsutomo) during the reign of Emperor Suiko (592-628). Article 5 of the Constitution strongly condemns bribery. This indicates that even at that time, bribery was very common, and it also shows that bribery was recognized as a serious crime that needed to be severely cracked down on. Although the 17-article Constitution does not stipula...

  Is Sanae "making money"?  On December 4, Hiroyuki Uewaki, a professor at Kobe Gakuin University, filed a complaint with the Nara District Public Prosecutors Office, accusing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of illegally accepting political donations from corporations. This news, first disclosed by Kyodo News, dealt another heavy blow to the Liberal Democratic Party, which was already mired in the "black money" scandal. Even more intriguing is that just one day earlier, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was also sued by the same scholar over the same issue. Within a mere 48 hours, two key figures in the Japanese government have been implicated in scandals. Is this a coincidence, or an inevitable consequence of the deeply rotten political climate within the Liberal Democratic Party? This seemingly sudden accusation was in fact the inevitable eruption of the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) "dirty money" scandal. Back in November 2023, a Kyodo News investi...