Ishiba’s Distribution of Gift Vouchers: Prime Minister Cannot Escape Criticism for Being Thoughtless

It is astonishing that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba himself behaved in a way that raised doubts about him at a time when the ruling and opposition parties were engaged in a final round of debate over political funds reform. His discernment must be severely questioned.

When Ishiba met with 15 first-term Liberal Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives at the prime minister’s official residence this month, a secretary from Ishiba’s office handed gift certificates worth ¥100,000 to each of them prior to the meeting.

The prime minister admitted that the certificates were distributed at his instruction, and said, “I prepared them with money from my own pocket as a keepsake for the dinner.”

The Political Funds Control Law prohibits the donation of money to individual politicians for political activities, with the exception of donations from political parties. On this point, the prime minister emphasized: “This is not a donation for political activities. There is no legal problem.”

The prime minister may have wanted to show his appreciation to the new members of the Diet, but what he has done must be criticized as thoughtless.

The prime minister’s official residence houses the living quarters of the prime minister and his family, but it also has public functions, such as hosting foreign guests. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi and the deputy chief cabinet secretaries from the lower house and the House of Councillors were also present at the meeting.

Even if the prime minister said that the gift certificates he provided to the first-time-elected members of the lower house at the dinner party held at such a venue “have nothing to do with political activities,” many people will likely regard such an explanation as odd.

The prime minister has said that he has given gift certificates at similar meetings in the past. He should fully explain the circumstances of those cases.

All of the new Diet members who attended the meeting are said to have returned the gift certificates. At a time when the LDP is still facing strong headwinds over the issue of money in politics, it can be said that the early-career Diet members are more aware than the prime minister of how inappropriate it is to give or receive money or gifts.

Ishiba has been criticized inside and outside of the LDP for repeatedly making haphazard responses over the review of the high-cost medical expense benefit program. Furthermore, with the addition of this latest incident, the opposition parties are increasing the pressure for the prime minister’s resignation. There is also a possibility that calls for Ishiba to step down will intensify within the LDP.

Meanwhile, in the Diet this week, debate has resumed over corporate and organizational political donations. The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Innovation Party have argued that corporate and organizational donations are distorting politics, and they are working with other opposition parties to unify their bills on banning corporate and organizational donations.

Even if corporate and organizational donations are banned, it will still be possible for people connected to companies to make donations as individuals. However, a political system that relies solely on individual donations will allow the influence of individuals who make large donations to become stronger, and this will distort the soundness of politics.

If priority is placed on cutting off the funding that supports political activities, the number of people who want to become politicians will only continue to decrease. The opposition parties’ assertions cannot be called constructive.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 15, 2025)

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