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Akira Amari, Japan’s Economy Minister, Resigns Amid Scandal Akira Amari, Japan’s Economic Revitalization Minister, Resigns Amid Scandal
(about 3 hours later)
TOKYO — Japan’s economy minister resigned on Thursday after reports by a magazine that he had accepted money from the head of a construction company in exchange for political favors. TOKYO — A chief architect of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to resuscitate Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, resigned on Thursday after reports by a magazine that he had accepted money from the head of a construction company in exchange for political favors.
The announcement after markets closed in Japan came as a surprise — the minister, Akira Amari, had signaled hours earlier that he would stay in office — and was an embarrassing setback for the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Japan’s economy, the world’s third largest, has been in recession. It contracted 0.8 percent in the third quarter last year and has been battling deflation and lackluster economic growth for much of the past quarter-century. Akira Amari, the minister for economic revitalization, announced his resignation after markets closed in Japan. It was both a surprise and an embarrassing setback for Mr. Abe, who has used monetary easing by the Bank of Japan and other economic measures — a package known as Abenomics — to reverse the deflation and lackluster economic growth that have beleaguered the country for much of the past quarter-century.
Mr. Amari, 66, is a close ally of Mr. Abe and joined the cabinet in 2012 in the new position of minister for economic revitalization. He led Japan’s negotiations for the Trade-Pacific Partnership, a huge trade accord reached in October after seven years of negotiations. He is the fourth minister of Mr. Abe’s government, but by far the most powerful, to resign over allegations of financial impropriety. Mr. Amari, 66, was a close ally of Mr. Abe, and he led Japan’s negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a major trade accord reached in October, after seven years of negotiations. He is the fourth minister of Mr. Abe’s government, but by far the most powerful, to resign over allegations of misconduct.
The magazine Shukan Bunshun reported last week that the construction company gave Mr. Amari and his aides cash and gifts totaling 12 million yen, or about $100,000. The funds were never reported in campaign finance records, as is required, the magazine reported. It quoted the construction company as saying that it was involved in a dispute with the government over a public works contract and was seeking Mr. Amari’s help in resolving the dispute. “I feel responsible for appointing him, and I apologize to the Japanese people for this matter,” Mr. Abe said after Mr. Amari’s resignation.
Following the reports, Mr. Amari insisted at a news conference last Friday that “I haven’t broken any laws,” while pledging to answer more questions after “conforming my memories.” Mr. Abe called the economy his “top priority,” and he immediately appointed to the post Nobuteru Ishihara, a former environment minister and the secretary general of Mr. Abe’s party, the Liberal Democrats, who have been in power throughout most of Japan’s postwar history.
But a follow-up piece in the magazine on Thursday quoted a company representative as saying that Mr. Amari had twice pocketed envelopes containing ¥500,000 in cash. It claimed that further unrecorded payments were made, for a total of tens of millions of yen. Mr. Amari had been expected to travel to New Zealand next week for a signing ceremony for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Mr. Abe, while crediting Mr. Amari for his work on the trade accord, said the resignation would not affect the deal, as its provisions were “already basically agreed.”
At a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday, Mr. Amari said that an executive from the construction company had visited his room at the Cabinet Office with gifts, but he insisted that he had told an aide to correctly record the gifts as a political donation. The scandal that led to Mr. Amari’s downfall unfolded quickly.
He did not deny accepting cash but said that the matter was handled “according to the rules” and denied any wrongdoing. “Putting money in my suit pocket in front of a visitor,” Reuters quoted him as saying, “would be lacking dignity as a human being.” The magazine Shukan Bunshun reported last week that an construction company had given Mr. Amari and his aides cash and gifts totaling 12 million yen, or about $100,000. The funds were not fully reported in public records, as required, the magazine reported. The company was involved in a dispute with a semipublic housing agency over a public works contract, and was seeking Mr. Amari’s help in resolving it, according to the magazine.
Mr. Amari said that he nonetheless felt the need to step down so as not to distract from the work of the government. “Japan is finally emerging from deflation,” Reuters quoted him as saying. “We need to pass legislation through Parliament for steps to beat deflation and create a strong economy as soon as possible. Anything that hampers this must be eliminated, and I’m no exception.” After the reports, Mr. Amari insisted at a news conference last Friday that he had not “broken any laws,” and pledged to answer more questions after “confirming my memories.”
The resignation of Mr. Amari could prove a distraction for Mr. Abe in the run-up to elections in the upper house of Parliament this summer. But a follow-up piece in the magazine on Thursday quoted a company official, Takeshi Isshiki, as saying that Mr. Amari had twice pocketed envelopes containing ¥500,000 in cash — at his ministerial office in Tokyo in November 2013 and at his office in Kanagawa Prefecture in February 2014. It claimed that further unrecorded payments were made, for a total of tens of millions of yen.
The magazine also reported salacious details concerning two aides to Mr. Amari. According to the magazine, Mr. Isshiki accompanied them to bars and nightclubs in the Ginza area of Tokyo, where he covered the expenses; the aides did not even shell out petty cash for coffee or parking fees. One aide took ¥3 million and used it for personal purposes, according to a report disclosed during Mr. Amari’s news conference on Thursday.
Mr. Amari acknowledged at that news conference that his aides had acted improperly, citing the investigation by an independent lawyer whom Mr. Amari had hired to look into the matter. The two aides have resigned.
Mr. Amari denied having broken the law. He acknowledged that Mr. Isshiki had brought cash to his office, but said that he had told an aide to properly record the money as a political donation.
He strongly denied the magazine’s account that he had placed the envelope with the money in his pocket. “Putting money in my suit pocket in front of a visitor,” he said, “would be lacking dignity as a human being.”
Mr. Amari said he was resigning for the good of the country and noted that he had stayed on the job while battling tongue cancer.
“I was appointed as the commander of Abenomics by Prime Minster Abe and I was in charge of steering the Japanese economy, have been working on national service by risking my life for the last three years,” Mr. Amari said. “Without rest and sleep, I worked hard to break away from deflation, revive the economy and restore fiscal health, reform the social security and tax system, and move ahead on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”
Mr. Abe, who served a previous term as prime minister in 2006-7 before winning the job again in 2012, has seen his current tenure marred by several resignations.
In October 2014, the justice minister, Midori Matsushima, and the minister for the economy, trade and industry, Yuko Obuchi, resigned, Ms. Matsushima over an election-law violation and Ms. Obuchi over misuse of political funds. Last February, the minister of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, Koya Nishikawa, resigned after it was revealed that he had received campaign contributions from a company that is a recipient of government subsidies.