Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, Yuko Obuchi has resigned following allegations over the misuse of political funds, including to buy cosmetics.
The scandal surfaced after a weekly magazine carried an article about possibly illegal spending by two of Obuchi’s support groups. The allegations cover a number of years and include spending over JPY10m on cosmetics as well as accessories from a department store and organising trips to Tokyo for about 2,000 voters including theatre performances.
Obuchi’s political opponents asserted all this was tantamount to ‘vote-buying’. Obuchi, however, has not admitted that money was misspent, but did concede she has a moral responsibility for not properly monitoring the use of the funds.
