Fumitake Fujita, co-leader of the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), has said he would stop placing orders with his secretary’s company following a report of dubious spending.
Making the announcement in a YouTube video Sunday, Fujita also said he would provide further details at a news conference on Tuesday. The JIP, also known as Nippon Ishin no Kai, is the partner of the Liberal Democratic Party in the ruling coalition.
The Sunday edition of the Japanese Communist Party’s official newspaper Shimbun Akahata reported that Fujita’s side paid about ¥21 million between June 2017 and November 2024 to a company headed by his first state-funded secretary, mainly for leaflet printing services.
The report also said that ¥19.65 million of this amount was paid from public funds, including subsidies to political parties, criticizing the practice as provision of taxpayer money to his own staff.
In the YouTube video, Fujita acknowledged the payments to his secretary’s company but emphasized that they were “legal.”
“We will no longer place any orders” with the company, he said, adding that he received many comments that the payments may cause misunderstandings or doubts.
Fujita explained that the company had been involved in creating leaflets and other materials since before 2019, when he was first elected to parliament.
The orders were received by a corporation, not by the secretary, Fujita said, explaining that the company was chosen because it had the necessary knowledge for business related to political activities.
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