Ozawa's group got Y1.72 bil from fundraising parties over 13 years

Thursday 19th March, 11:48 PM JST

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bobbafett at 07:35 PM JST - 20th March

Oh man, Ozawa is dead and buried. Its not as if the LDP don't do these things its just that they insulate themselves very well. Obviously they have known what Ozawa has been up to for years but they have been doing it themselves too. They have been saving the information for a moment like this years elections. Ozawa should come clean and bring down the whole house of cards. If he came clean, and dished the dirt on the LDP the Reds will win the next election. I am guessing the Military would stage a coup after that and reinstate the LDP.
930148mike at 07:30 AM JST - 21st March

The report that DPJ Leader Mr Ichiro Ozawa received 1.72 billion Yen (or US$17.9 million) in political donations between 1994 and 2007 from contractors is a damaging revelation. Specifically concerning the Nishimatsu Construction Company, from 2002 onward that Company, now tainted and disgraced, won no fewer than 16 public works contracts in Mr Ozawa's electoral district, raising the question of influence peddling by Mr Ozawa on behalf of that Company in exchange for financial payments. Mr Ozawa must clarify his own actions in this ever-widening scandal which threatens his long-held ambition to be Prime Minister of Japan. For many Japanese voters, however, it is too late for Mr Ozawa to save himself. Such voters perceive him as being just another paid-off politician who should be in prison, not public office. Next week, the fate of Mr Takanori Okuba will be known, and with it, most probably the fate of Mr Ozawa as well. If Mr Okuba is indicted for allegedly breaching the Political Fund Control Law, Mr Ozawa will have no choice but to resign his Presidency of the DPJ, a post he has now held for three years. His successor, most likely Mr Katsuya Okada, will then have the formidable task of restoring the DPJ's tarnished reputation - a job that must be done if the DPJ is to have any chance at all of winning the next General Election.