“Ozawa girls” is a title that refers to the group of attractive female candidates dispatched to minor constituencies under the guidance of the Democratic Party of Japan’s scandal-plagued Secretary General, Ichiro Ozawa, for last August’s lower house election.
At the party’s annual convention inside the Hibiya Kokaido on January 16, three of these ladies, who wound up winning seats in their districts, seemed a bit on edge, reports Shukan Shincho (Jan. 28).
On that day, representatives Yukiko Miyake, Kumiko Hayakawa, and the colorful Mieko Tanaka were seen seated next to one another, their lovely legs, the weekly drools, perfectly aligned but their minds appearing to be moving in multiple directions. These perplexed looks may have been due to the right-wing vans protesting outside the hall or the fact that Ozawa’s former secretary, Tomohiro Ishikawa, had been arrested the day before for misappropriating political funds within Ozawa’s fund management body.
A DPJ representative tells the tabloid that they have nowhere to turn should Ozawa leave his post. “Some of the girls were able to win elections largely due to Ozawa’s connections and financial resources,” the source says. “Should Ozawa face the worst-case scenario, they will lose something to fall back on. For those who had to fight during the election with the five million yen supplied by the party and personal funding it is certain they will find these girls irritating. Even if Ozawa resigns, it won’t make anyone want to rescue them.”
Further, an accounting report released last September showed the flow of Ozawa’s political funds, a part which was allocated to those under Ozawa, which includes his gals — though, it should be noted, not necessarily all of the lasses listed above. The DPJ now finds itself in a situation where it cannot explicitly criticize Ozawa and the situations stemming from his suspected activities.
Another DPJ rep explains, “During the convention, I was watching [Deputy finance minister Yoshihiko] Noda, who is known for keeping his distance from Ozawa. But even he was offering loud applause when Ozawa was making a speech that was critical of how the investigation is being conducted. We cannot take a big step at the moment as we cannot anticipate how the investigation will continue or know whether Ozawa will return to full power.”
In the meantime, conflict of interests will continue flying within the DPJ, and the current alignment within the party pales compared to that of those beautiful legs, the weekly dreams.
Source: “Ozawa Kyuchi de ‘girls’ ni sosogareru shisen,’” Shukan Shincho (Jan. 22)
