Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe is on the defensive due to his spendthrift ways. Last month, the Japanese Communist Party revealed that he had spent more than ¥213 million on overseas trips since he took office two years ago, an amount that vastly exceeded not only the limits imposed by Tokyo regulations, but also any other politician's precedent, including former governor Shintaro Ishihara, who was known for his own extravagances.
Factoring in a trip to the U.S. he made following the revelations, since becoming governor Masuzoe has gone on nine journeys abroad, during which he has racked up 29 nights in expensive hotels, 28 of which exceeded regulated limits. Twenty-four, in fact, cost at least twice as much as the limit, and that included one night that was canceled but nevertheless charged to the metropolitan government.
The most expensive hotel room Masuzoe booked was a suite in the Conrad London St. James Hotel last October, which cost the equivalent of ¥198,000 a night, or five times the limit imposed by Tokyo's rules. And during his recent trip to the U.S., he stayed at the Wheeler Intercontinental Hotel in Washington at a cost of ¥151,800 a night.