MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) – Japan has suffered yet another political scandal this week as the newly-appointed trade minister Yoichi Miyazawa announced today that his political support group was spending money at a sadomasochism-themed bar in Hiroshima.
Yoichi Miyazawa, 64, reported today an ¥18,230 ($169.90) bill from a visit to an S-M bar nearly four years ago, on 6 September, 2010. The minister has also distanced himself from the related allegations, saying that he personally was not present at the Hiroshima venue, and stated that the money was spent by an employee of his political office, reported The Asahi Shimbun. The media has revealed that the S-M club hosts shows during which female performers are tied up and whipped, also performing the same actions on customers themselves. Nudity to a large extent is part of the show.
"It is true such expenses were made," Miyazawa said, as quoted by Reuters. "But I myself did not go there at all. That's true as well."
It is still unknown whether the minister is going to resign. Mr. Miyazawa is nephew to late Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and a cousin of Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, a Harvard graduate and a former top employee of the Finance Ministry.
Mr. Miyazawa’s political office has already released an official statement on the occasion. “It has been confirmed that Miyazawa himself did not participate,” the statement reads, as quoted by Tokyo Reporter. “The details as to how this (expense) was entered into the political funding report is under investigation.”
Two other scandals that have shaken the Japanese government this week are Mr. Miyazawa’s predecessor’s Yuko Obuchi step down and the resignation of Justice Minister Midori Matsushima. Ms. Obuchi has left the office over allegations of misspending political funds, while Ms. Matsushima was forces to resign amid accusations of attempting to buy votes.
The S-M scandal around Mr. Miyazawa along with the aforementioned governmental scandals pose a headache to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration as he may have a hard time finding proper replacements for the vacant positions during the ongoing gender reforms. Mr. Abe had once been forced to resign as PM himself, after a series of ministerial scandals marking the demise of his first cabinet in 2007, says AFP.
