Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose denied Friday that he deliberately whitewashed his annual report on political funds last year and said money he accepted from the scandal-tainted Tokushukai hospital chain before his gubernatorial campaign last December was strictly for "personal purposes."
Because it was his first time running, Inose said he paid courtesy visits to many potential constituents to ask for financial support before launching his campaign run. Among them were Tokushukai founder Torao Tokuda, whose hospital chain was probed by prosecutors in September for allegedly breaking the election law.
After they met, Inose received a whopping ¥50 million ($500,000) from Liberal Democratic Party politician Takeshi Tokuda, the hospital chief's second son, for what Inose described as strictly personal purposes. The windfall had no political connotations, he claimed.