ANKARA

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has admitted that “political funds were used” to distribute congratulatory gifts to newly elected lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) after an early general election, according to local media.

According to state broadcaster NHK, Takaichi told parliament that the party used political funds to provide each of its 315 newly elected lawmakers with “catalog booklets containing lists of items that could be ordered as gifts,” allocating about 30,000 yen (around $190) per person.

She argued that “there was no illegality in this case” and said the gifts were donated by the LDP’s Nara prefectural branch to celebrate victory in a “very difficult election.”

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Ozaki Masanao said the practice did not pose a legal issue, describing it as a donation from a party branch to individual lawmakers.

Opposition leaders, however, criticized the move.

Centrist Reform Alliance leader Junya Ogawa said it reflected “an old culture within the LDP that cannot be overlooked,” while Democratic Party for the People leader Motohisa Furukawa said the gifts “further deepen public distrust in politics.”

The controversy follows a political funding scandal that prompted former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to resign in October 2024, after apologizing for causing “serious distrust toward politics.”

In the Feb. 8 snap election, the LDP increased its seats from 198 to 316, surpassing the two-thirds majority threshold, with Takaichi serving as Japan’s first female prime minister.

*Writing by Gizem Nisa Demir