Political Corruption and Social Structure in Japan

Abstract

THE JAPANESE SEEM very tolerant of political corruption. After the 1974 revelation of the financial scandal involving exPremier Tanaka, he resigned and paid a small amount of back taxes, but retained all of the other property and funds-estimated to run into the tens of millions of dollars-that were called into question.' In addition, his faction expanded to become the largest one within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Even after his 1976 arrest for the Lockheed payoff, Tanaka ran for reelection in December 1976 and won by a landslide. Tanaka's predecessor, Premier Sato, was also suspected of a series of scandals, but he held the longest term as Prime Minister in Japanese history. If Tanaka's scandals had not been revealed in the United States, he might have followed in Sato's footsteps. How can this tolerance of corruption be explained? It is not difficult to find hints that financial corruption is built into Japanese politics. Former Premier Kishi has stated that Politics is money; it is power.2 A political election is like competition among pickpockets, said Masanosuke Ikeda, a former member of the Diet.3 Former Premier Ikeda advised one of his followers that Politicians should not earn money; it should be given.4 These statements refer to private, unaccounted for money which is made available extralegally to holders of political power. The suggestions that bribery is built into the Japanese political system are supported by an analysis of the income and expenses of members of the Japanese Diet.