House of Representatives member Yojiro Nakajima, 39, pleaded guilty Thursday to providing 20 million yen to his supporters to buy votes during the 1996 general election, and said he will resign from the Diet.
At the Tokyo District Court, Nakajima admitted he gave a total of 20 million yen to three leaders of his supporters' group — Kozo Oshio, 72, a company executive; Yasushige Iida, 61, a former member of the Ota Municipal Assembly in Gunma Prefecture; and Etsuo Shimizu, 44, a former secretary for Nakajima. "I admit the charges in the indictment," Nakajima said in a trembling voice. "I will step down from my post as a Lower House member to express my apology to the public and the people of Gunma Prefecture."
Nakajima also gave 200,000 yen to Iida and Yukio Arai, 51, also a former Ota assembly member and Nakajima's campaign manager, as remuneration for helping Nakajima garner votes during his campaign for the Lower House election, prosecutors said.