Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said he received ¥800,000 in donations from companies with links to a corporate manager who was indicted in 2004 for tax evasion, and added he will return the money to the donors.
Noda told a news conference that two companies had paid ¥400,000 to purchase tickets for a fundraising party organized by his political body in 2007.
The indicted manager faced a charge of dodging some ¥350 million in corporate and other taxes.
In a related case, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara apologized Thursday for receiving a donation of ¥500,000 in 2009 from one of the group firms run by the same man.