In a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, trade minister Yuko Obuchi was grilled Thursday by the opposition camp over an allegation that her political support groups misused funds.
The furor erupted after the weekly Shukan Shincho ran an article Thursday saying that Obuchi's support group and a political group in her district in Gunma Prefecture paid around ¥26 million in 2010 and 2011 to shoulder some of the costs of theater tickets for her backers.
In its political funding reports, Obuchi's support group recorded about ¥3.73 million in 2010 and some ¥3.69 million in 2011 as income paid by backers who participated in annual theater-viewing events. But the group and the Gunma-based political group recorded some ¥16.88 million in 2010 and about ¥16.96 million in 2011 as expenditures for tickets and dining, the magazine said.