Japanese Minister of the Olympics Toshiaki Endo yesterday said that a report saying his political support groups had received illegal funds was “completely groundless,” while a top official said it would pose no problems for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government.
The issue arises at a delicate time for Abe, who is trying to enact sweeping changes to security policy, despite widespread public opposition, and also as outrage grows over ballooning costs for Tokyo’s hosting of the Summer Olympic Games in 2020.
Political support groups for Endo, who took up the newly created ministerial post late last month, might have received ￥5 million (US$41,000) in donations from four officials in a livestock firm in his political district in 2013, the Sankei Shimbun reported.
Endo’s office issued a statement denying the report, saying it was “completely groundless” and that a correction and an apology had been demanded.
Corporate donations are illegal, except to political parties.
“It was a donation from individuals,” Endo later told reporters. “It was handled appropriately.”
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said there would be no political fallout for the Abe government, which saw three ministers resign in the past year over similar allegations, even as it pushes to pass a law enabling Japanese troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War II.
“This will have absolutely no impact,” Suga told a news conference.
Endo took office amid growing outrage over the cost of the new National Stadium, set to replace a now-destroyed structure built for the 1964 Olympics, which is to cost more than US$2 billion, nearly twice the original estimates, and be completed two months later than planned.
Costs for the stadium were confirmed at ￥252 billion at a meeting on Tuesday, compared with ￥130 billion in Tokyo’s bid documents for the Games. Tokyo won the bid over Istanbul and Madrid in 2013 largely on a US$4.5 billion war chest and Japan’s reputation for efficiency.
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