Kenji Watanabe spent the last year preaching and begging business leaders around Fukui Prefecture to donate to the Liberal Democratic Party. He was always received politely, but company presidents kept their wallets closed.
The administrative director of Fukui Prefecture's federation of LDP branches sighed as he tallied up the proceeds of the year's fundraising.
"We got half of what we asked for," Watanabe said. Local financial institutions gave nothing, including local major lender Fukui Bank, which had contributed 1 million yen at a single fundraising banquet in 2000. This is distressing ahead of the July Upper House poll, when local candidate Masaaki Yamazaki will run for re-election.