TOKYO (TR) – A fund management organization of Koichi Kishi, the head of the Upper House Budget Committee, allegedly spent political funds at an adult-themed bar two years ago in the Roppongi entertainment district, reports TV Asahi (March 2).
The organization included a 35,500-yen bill from a session at an SM bar on May 17, 2013 on a political funding report.
“Kishi himself did not participate,” a spokesperson from the office of the Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker said. “It was a private secretary in attendance with a supporter.”
An SM bar typically provides live shows in which female hostesses use ropes and whips on customers in various stages of undress.
The spokesperson added that the visit of Kishi’s party was not problematic since no live performance had taken place.
The same organization also spent 44,400 yen in political funds at a hostess club on April 23 of the same year, the same report said.
Last year, a funding report for trade minister Yoichi Miyazawa indicated that one of his support groups had spent political funds at an SM bar in Hiroshima.