It's about time that former economy minister Akira Amari followed through on his pledge to account for the millions of yen that had been provided to him and his aides by a construction company worker seeking the intervention of the lawmaker's office in a dispute with a government-funded housing corporation. Prosecutors have begun investigating the case — questioning some of the parties involved and searching related premises. But for nearly three months after resigning from the Cabinet over the scandal, Amari has remained mum — and staying out of the Diet, saying he needed to rest on account of what was explained as a sleeping disorder.
When he left his Cabinet post in late January, Amari denied any wrongdoing by himself and said he was quitting to take responsibility as a supervisor of his secretaries who had received millions of yen in cash and benefits from the construction firm — part of which had been used "privately" by one of the aides — and to avert the scandal from disrupting the Diet proceedings of the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He also said he would further investigate the matter, but no word has since been heard from the lawmaker. Since the issue has developed into a potential criminal case, Amari should come forward with what he has since learned — even through an agent if his health condition prevents him from appearing in public.
The scandal was initially exposed in a report by the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun. In the January news conference announcing his resignation, Amari confirmed that one of his secretaries received ¥5 million in cash from Takeshi Isshiki, then in charge of general affairs at the construction firm in Chiba Prefecture in August 2013 — ¥3 million of which the aide used "privately" and was not included in his office's political funds report.