Shigehiro Hatanaka, a 74-year-old former member of the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly, admitted on November 9, 2018, that he paid over 5 million yen in cash following his appointment as vice speaker, becoming the sixth person to make such an admission under his real name, yomiuri.co.jp reported.
Speaking to the Yomiuri Shimbun and other media outlets at his home in Miyako Town, Hatanaka detailed how he placed 5 million yen in a paper bag roughly six months after taking office, carrying the cash in a public vehicle to the prefectural assembly on November 26, 2018.
He stated that it was a known fact within himself that 5 million yen was required to become vice speaker, acknowledging the payment was tied directly to the post.
Hatanaka explained that he believed the funds would be used as adjustment money between political factions or as lubricating oil for assembly operations. While he noted that a political fundraising party held to celebrate his appointment generated a certain amount of revenue, he insisted that the 5 million yen was covered by his own personal funds and presented a notebook containing records of the expenditure at the time.
Regarding the origins of the payment, Hatanaka stated he had no recollection of receiving instructions to pay from the democratic faction to which he belonged.
He also suggested that the recipient of the cash may have been Toshio Yoshimura, a former head of the democratic faction at the time, or a senior official within the Liberal Democratic Party caucus, though he added that he could not remember clearly, yomiuri.co.jp reported.
Around the summer of 2018, Hatanaka joined Yoshimura, LDP executives, and others for a dining event at a Japanese-style restaurant in Fukuoka City held under the guise of an inauguration celebration. He shared the roughly 60,000-yen cost of the gathering with Shungo Inoue, an LDP lawmaker who served as assembly president during the same period.
The controversy surrounding money exchanges within the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly surfaced in early July when former assembly chairman Masaaki Yoshimatsu and others revealed cash payments to LDP executives, prompting a succession of lawmakers to come forward with on-the-record accounts.
On October 23, Masahiko Shinmura, a former assemblyman from the same faction as Hatanaka, claimed he handed 5 million yen in cash to former assembly speaker Isao Kurauchi, who has since resigned his assembly seat.
Reflecting on that period, Hatanaka stated that he was caught up in a harmful custom that had turned into a collection machine, admitting he felt no sense of guilt at the time.
He explained that his decision to testify using his real name stemmed from the establishment of a third-party committee of attorneys and a special assembly investigation committee, known as a hundred-item committee, noting that he wanted to express his own remorse and apologies to the public and had already cooperated with interviews conducted by the third-party committee.
Hatanaka served four terms representing the Miyako County district until 2023, holding the vice speaker position from May 2018 through April 2019. In contrast, Yoshimura denied both receiving or instructing any cash payments when interviewed by the Yomiuri Shimbun.
Inoue stated he had no memory of the dining expenses and added that his own involvement regarding cash payments had already been addressed before the third-party committee, noting he would offer the same testimony to the hundred-item committee.
Meanwhile, Kurauchi maintained during a press conference on November 5 that no money exchanges occurred regarding assembly personnel appointments. Concurrently, the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly finalized the 15-member roster for its newly formed hundred-item committee to investigate the financial allegations and overseas inspection practices, though controversy accompanied the selection process, according to Fukuoka TNC News.
Among the appointed members is a legislator who previously faced a censure resolution over anonymous social media attacks targeting a colleague, drawing criticism from assembly members regarding the neutrality and credibility of the investigative body.
