TOKYO - Japan's new farm minister said Wednesday he will confirm the facts over a report alleging he received a donation in the 2024 lower house election from a company undertaking public works, in a possible violation of the public offices election law.
The report from weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun comes less than a week after Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Arata Takebe replaced lawmaker Kazuo Yana, who was effectively dismissed from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Cabinet amid reports over his conduct in his constituency including possible violation of the same law.
Speaking to reporters in parliament, Takebe said he has "instructed" that money be returned or the political funds report corrected depending on the results.
"I apologize for causing a stir," he said.
The magazine reported that the funds were received during the 2024 House of Representatives election.
Takebe said he was "unaware at the time of receiving the donation that the company in question was engaged in public works."
A lawmaker representing a constituency in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island, Takebe became a Cabinet minister for the first time last Thursday. He is the son of Tsutomu Takebe, a former ruling Liberal Democratic Party secretary general.
