Original] Governor Kuroiwa of Kanagawa Prefecture is suspected of “violating the Political Funds Control Law”… Shocking excuses returned from his office.

Suspected of Bribing Voters at a Political Fund Party Held by Kuroiwa

On April 21, just before Golden Week, Kanagawa Prefecture Governor Yuji Kuroiwa, 71, met with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, 65, at the prime minister’s official residence, and when he introduced how to make “Tunku,” the official mascot character for the International Horticultural Exposition to be held in Yokohama in 2027, using origami, Takaichi laughed and said, “That’s interesting.

The meeting between the prime minister and the governor seemed to be a lively one, with Kuroiwa, who is a close friend of Communist Party General Secretary and State President To Lam, the supreme leader of Vietnam, whom Takaichi will visit during GW, giving him tips on exchange.

The head of a local government, whom Mr. Takaichi also admires, is under suspicion over political funds. A source at the Kanagawa Prefectural Government told us that there are doubts about the income and expenditure report of Mr. Kuroiwa’s political organization, the Yuji Kuroiwa Supporters’ Association, and continued, “In December 2011, Mr. Kuroiwa was a member of the Association.

On December 21, 2011, the group held a “Talk with Governor Kuroiwa” political fundraiser and recorded 164,290 yen as income. On the other hand, 944,000 yen was paid to a business for food and beverages as business expenses for the party, and since the expenditures far exceeded the income, it is possible that the party constituted voter bribery.

The report of receipts and disbursements of the said party is described as “business expenses for holding a political fund party,” which would be classified as a political fund party. An attendee at the “Talk with Governor Kuroiwa” meeting described the party as follows: “The venue was Ginza Astor Fujisawa.

The venue was Ginza Aster Fujisawa Guest House. The fee was 12,000 yen, and nearly 100 people, mostly local Fujisawa business owners, gathered. After talking about ride-sharing, he went around to each table individually and told the audience that he had lived in Fujisawa during his junior high school years. A typical all-you-can-drink Chinese course meal was served, and saxophonist Emi Araki performed.

A political fund party is defined in the Political Funds Control Law as “an event for which a fee is collected, and for which the amount remaining after deducting the amount of expenses for the event from the amount of income related to the fee for the event is used for the political activities (including election campaigns) of the person who held the event or a person other than such person. In other words, the amount of the income from food and beverages and services that exceeds the consideration is defined as “the amount of income from the event minus the amount of expenses for the event.

In other words, the provision of food, drink, or services in excess of compensation may constitute voter buying. If the participants’ testimonies are correct, the association must have recorded revenues of more than 1.2 million yen, and if the report is accurate, it provided five times as many services as it received and spent, which could be a violation.

New allegations against Kuroiwa over his book and seminars.

There are also other allegations. The aforementioned prefectural government official states.

The governor has been using an election consulting firm, Emiulu Corporation, since ’24. an election consulting firm run by Kazuyoshi Fuchinoue, who served as secretary to Manabu Sakai, 60, a member of the House of Representatives from Kanagawa’s 5th district, and who found himself in the governor’s vicinity. The company holds political cram schools and other events with Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi (45) and former Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide (77) as billboards. The company is also engaged in diverse projects, such as holding economic seminars with people from the business world.”

Meanwhile, Kanagawa Prefecture has appointed Mr. Fuchinoue as the coordinator of the “2025 Online Dialogue between Governor Kuroiwa and the People Concerned,” a project sponsored by the prefecture. Appointing a consulting firm that is commissioned by the governor himself as the coordinator for an event in which the governor himself is the main focus may suggest an excessive connection.

There are other questions about Mr. Kuroiwa’s ethics.

At a party held in ’24, he purchased his book, “The Unliked Governor” (Gentosha), with political funds and distributed it to participants. This act raises ethical questions because pocket money can be made through publication and political fund parties”.

The unit price of the book in question was 1,760 yen, and 800 copies were purchased for the party. The royalty rate for the books is “10%,” which means that Mr. Kuroiwa will receive 128,000 yen.

How will Mr. Kuroiwa respond to these allegations? When we contacted the Public Relations and Press Group of the Kanagawa Prefecture Governor’s Office, Yuji Kuroiwa’s office responded as follows.

The book was purchased from the expenses of the political fund party held to commemorate the publication of his book, “The Governor Hated”, and was provided to the attendees as one of the compensation stipulated in the Political Funds Regulation Law.

We have properly reported the income and expenditure on this matter. In addition, with regard to your point about royalties, Kuroiwa personally filed an appropriate tax return under the guidance of his accountant.

Next, regarding the project expenses for the “Online Dialogue between Governor Kuroiwa and the parties concerned in Reiwa 2025,” the Information and Public Hearing Division of the Kanagawa Prefectural Policy Bureau responded, “The total project expenses were 1,176,500 yen, including 291,000 yen for guest fees, 412,500 yen for PR fees, and 473,000 yen for planning and other work (paid by EMiUR). The Information Disclosure and Public Hearing Division of the Kanagawa Prefectural Government’s Policy Bureau responded as follows.

The prefectural government is outsourcing this work to the private sector in order to utilize their knowledge, skills, and know-how in planning and selecting dialogue partners (advice) for the prefecture’s online dialogue events.

In selecting the private business, we selected them based on their past performance and evaluation of similar projects in the prefecture, and we concluded the contract appropriately in accordance with the prefectural financial regulations that allow negotiated contracts for consignment work under 500,000 yen (under 1 million yen from Reiwa 2026).

Although this sounds plausible, it could be interpreted as “because the governor’s entourage can be paid up to 500,000 yen as they wish,” as long as the contract is within the scope of a negotiated contract.

As for the political fund party, Yuji Kuroiwa’s office responded as follows.

We have checked the “Meeting with Governor Kuroiwa” held on December 21, Reiwa 2024, as you pointed out, and found that the amount in the income column of the income and expenditure report was incorrect.

The 164,290 yen listed is the profit amount obtained by subtracting the amount of expenditures from the amount of income, and the actual amount of income is 12,000 yen for the membership fee x 116 persons, or 1,392,000 yen in total. We will correct the income and expenditure report as soon as possible, and we will ensure accurate paperwork to avoid such mistakes in the future.

This is a careless mistake, but it does not explain why the calculations were different from those of the other parties on the same page. Furthermore, if “1,392,000 yen” is the income, the amount of the party’s expenses in the same report is “1,172,940 yen. The total amount spent for the party was 1,172,940 yen, which does not add up to “1,392,000 yen – 1,172,940 yen = 219,060 yen. This reply, which seems to be digging a grave, should leave one feeling uneasy as the head of the Kanagawa Prefectural Government.

On May 19, Mr. Kuroiwa held another political fundraiser, which was attended by about 600 people from the business world in Kanagawa Prefecture. We sincerely hope that the report of the party is free from suspicion.