Back taxes are “culture”!　The political fund party “back money issue” was exposed two years ago… What does the new director Oshima think now?

The scene of a political fund party ticket exchange depicted in the film “Kagawa 1-Ku

Five factions of the Liberal Democratic Party have been criminally accused of underreporting party income, and the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is investigating the matter. It all started when Professor Hiroyuki Kamiwaki, a professor at Kobe Gakuin University, filed criminal charges last year after the allegations were reported in “Shimbun Aka Hata” (Red Flag).

This report reminded me of a scene from the documentary film “Kagawa 1-Ku” (’21) concerning the political fund party of Takuya Hirai, the first minister of digital technology. It was information from a certain accuser – a request to purchase party tickets for 10 people at 20,000 yen each, with only 3 people attending the party and the remaining 7 originally to be donated.

It was Professor Kamiwaki, who had been consulted in this process and appeared in the film, who became the center of attention this time.

At the time, he made comments such as, “I thought this kind of thing would happen somewhere, but I was surprised to see such a blatant request for writing, and if this is not a story about one company but a series of stories, it would be a big problem. ……

How does the new director of “Kagawa Ward 1,” Mr. Oshima, view the back-funding issue now? We asked him.

The indictment was dropped due to insufficient suspicion.

I think what I covered and reported in the film was not so much about factions, but rather about the “one-man slush fund scandal” involving Mr. Hirai.

After that, Mr. Kamiwaki made his own accusation against Mr. Hirai, unrelated to the film, and as a result, the indictment was dropped due to insufficient suspicion. I don’t know what the reason for the insufficient suspicion was, but that is how it happened. When I heard about the Abe and Nikkai factions, it was originally a terrible thing, but I wasn’t really surprised.

The forms are different, but the root of what they are doing is the same: selling lots of party tickets and putting them in their pockets, so I felt it was not surprising.

When we saw “Kagawa Ward 1,” we were so shocked that we immediately contacted FRIDAY Digital to request an interview. At the same time, we expected it to be a big problem, but what was the reaction to the film?

The scene in the movie was a surprise to some people, of course, but the movie as a whole is based on the story of Junya Ogawa’s long-cherished wish to win the election in his constituency and is filled with various stories, so there were various reactions to the movie as a whole.

However, Daisuke Tsuda recently tweeted in X that “The LDP’s slush fund issue is sure to cause a firestorm in the future, but I have a strong feeling that it is the perfect ‘answer to the LDP’s money-laden election campaign as depicted in director Arata Oshima’s documentary film “Kagawa Ward 1″” (December 2, 2009). (December 2, 2008).

I don’t think it can be broadcast on TV, but I would certainly like to make it widely available to the public.