National lawmakers who regularly appear on television to give their opinions on various matters saw their miscellaneous income jump in 2002, according to income data released Monday by the Diet.
Last year's sundry income for Katsuei Hirasawa, a senior House of Representatives member of a nonpartisan parliamentarian group calling for the return of all Japanese abducted by North Korea, was 10.8 million yen, up from 2.44 million yen in 2001.
The money boosted the Liberal Democratic Party member to fifth place in the miscellaneous income ranking.