Despite widespread condemnation of political fundraising parties and calls for their abolition, eliminating them has proven difficult.
To succeed in Japanese politics, it has long been said that a politician must have and maintain three things: a strong local voter base, strong personal connections in a wide variety of places and a fat wallet. When deciding on party membership, a party’s position on specific issues is often less important than whether or not a politician believes that joining a particular party is the best way to ensure that money is available to retain the local voter base and deepen the personal connections necessary for re-election. .
So where does that money come from?
