The Foreign Ministry funnels 2 billion yen a year into a discretionary fund handled by the Cabinet Secretariat, it was alleged Wednesday.
The allegations were made by a former ambassador to Lebanon who claims he was "effectively fired" for opposing Japan's support for the U.S.-led war on Iraq.
"(This flow of funds) is taken for granted in the ministry," Naoto Amaki told a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. "But the ministry can never admit it as it is against the law."