The average 2002 income of Diet members fell 6.2 percent from the previous year to a record low 26.93 million yen, reflecting the nation's slumping economy and a 10 percent cut in state payments to legislators since April 2002.
According to data released Monday by the Diet, it was the lowest average since the Diet began releasing lawmakers' income data in 1993. The previous low was 27.54 million yen in 2000.
Shozaburo Nakamura, a former justice minister and a member of the House of Representatives from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, topped the list with 626.84 million yen, thanks to one-time gains from dividends paid by a liquidated company in which he was the largest shareholder.