Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has denied any knowledge of

receiving donations from firms that had received government subsidies,

as he attempted to dodge allegations over financial impropriety that

have felled three of his ministers in recent months.



Japanese media said Abe’s constituency Liberal Democratic party [LDP]

received 620,000 yen (US$5000) from two chemical companies in 2012 and 13,

within a year of being awarded government subsidies.



It is illegal for Japanese politicians to receive donations from firms

less than a year of being notified that they will receive state

subsidies.



But politicians will not face criminal charges if they can prove they

were unaware that the firms involved are to be awarded subsidies.



Abe will be keen to avoid a repeat of his disastrous first term as

prime minister, which ended after just one year following a slew of ministerial scandals.



On Wednesday, senior officials moved quickly to limit the fallout from

reports suggesting that his justice, environment and education

ministers had received questionable donations. All three have denied

any wrongdoing.



Last week, the agriculture minister, Koya Nishikawa, quit after

questions were raised over his political fundraising. His replacement,

Yoshimasa Hayashi, admitted receiving money from firms that had been

awarded state cash but said he was unaware of the subsidies at the

time.



The economy minister, Akira Amari, meanwhile, said he would return

120,000 yen he received from a company that received state subsidies.



Abe acknowledged that his constituency party in Yamaguchi prefecture,

southwest Japan, had received the donations, but told a parliamentary

panel: “I really didn’t know what I didn’t know, and I can’t say more

than that.”



He added: “It is a problem if politicians exercise their political

power to respond to a request in exchange for money,” but did not

indicate if he would return the donations.



Abe, a conservative who took office in late 2012 promising to lift the

economy out of two decades of stagnation and give Japan a more

prominent role in international affairs, has lost three cabinet

colleagues to scandals since last year.



In addition to Nishikawa’s resignation last week, two ministers quit

on the same day last October over alleged misuse of political funds.



Analysts said the current donations scandal was unlikely to inflict

lasting damage on Abe, whose approval ratings are above 50 percent –

high for a Japanese leader who has been in power for more than two

years.



He is also likely to benefit from similar allegations being made

against the leader of the country’s main opposition party, Katsuya

Okada, whose constituency party received 240,000 yen in donations from

a firm in receipt of state subsidies.



“If this is the scope, I don’t think there will be much impact [on

Abe],” said Atsuo Ito, an independent political analyst.

