Tokyo

Major Japanese opposition parties are stepping up their criticism of the government for its failure to exclude antisocial forces from a tax-funded annual cherry blossom-viewing party hosted by the prime minister, especially targeting Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who was in charge in compiling lists of participants.

On Wednesday, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties conducted hearings with officials of the National Police Agency and the Cabinet Office over the attendance at the party of a person believed to be a member of an antisocial group.

According to the opposition camp, the Cabinet Office learned of the possibility that an antisocial group member had attended a cherry blossom party from a parliamentary question by a CDPJ lawmaker on Nov. 21.

But the government agency did not consult the NPA after that and showed a negative stance on probing how the person was able to participate in the event. The NPA was unable to learn about individual participants as there were no prior inquiries from the Cabinet Office, an NPA official said.

Opposition lawmakers also raised the topic of the government having sent an invitation letter for the 2015 cherry blossom party to the then chairman of bankrupt Japan Life Co., which was raided by police earlier this year over its allegedly unlawful business practice.

The opposition camp grilled the government side over the number “60” written on the invitation letter, saying it could have indicated a guest recommendation quota for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is accused of using taxpayer money for his own interest by inviting many of his supporters to the annual parties. A government official said that related records have been discarded.

The issue of how to exclude antisocial groups from society has attracted national attention following the revelation earlier this year that some comedians of entertainment firm Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. attended an event involving antisocial forces and earned money.

The opposition camp sees the issue of cherry blossom parties as not just a cronyism scandal involving Abe but also suggesting a possible link between the prime minister and antisocial forces.

At a meeting on Wednesday, the parliamentary affairs chiefs of major opposition parties shared the view that the participation of the antisocial group member in the cherry blossom party is a problem putting Suga's post on the line because he was in charge of compiling participant lists.

“Antisocial and “hangure” (half-gang) people attended a public event funded by tax money after receiving invitations, and drank and ate, and in addition, pictures (taken with Suga and others) have been posted on a blog,” CDPJ parliamentary affairs chief Jun Azumi told reporters on Wednesday.

Meeting with Hiroshi Moriyama, parliamentary affairs head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, later in the day, Azumi called for a probe into how the antisocial group member came to attend the cherry blossom party and the recovery of data on participant lists. Moriyama said only that he will consider the request.

The government and ruling bloc hope to draw the curtain on the scandal at an early date. “There is no definition for antisocial forces,” Suga told a press conference.

Jiji Press