A scandal that the Fukuoka branch of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party pressured members into making sizable payments is intensifying. Japanese media reported on the 30th that after the Fukuoka prefectural assembly speaker resigned, another implicated official — Matsumoto, head of the LDP Fukuoka federation — is considering resignation. In July a former Fukuoka assembly speaker, Yoshimatsu, alleged the LDP Fukuoka assembly group demanded money before he took office in June 2020, citing cha

A scandal that the Fukuoka branch of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party pressured members into making sizable payments is intensifying. Japanese media reported on the 30th that after the Fukuoka prefectural assembly speaker resigned, another implicated official — Matsumoto, head of the LDP Fukuoka federation — is considering resignation. In July a former Fukuoka assembly speaker, Yoshimatsu, alleged the LDP Fukuoka assembly group demanded money before he took office in June 2020, citing charges for party social golf outings, lodging, transport and high-end dining that together totaled about JPY20mln (roughly 850k yuan). Several former speakers and vice speakers have said they, too, paid several million yen prior to assuming office.