Agriculture Minister Shin Takebe is suspected of treating campaign workers to beer during a general election, a possible violation of the Public Offices Election Act's ban on vote buying, Bunshun Online reported.
The outlet obtained a receipt showing about ¥11,900 for 17 medium draft beers. The charge was included in roughly ¥117,000 of lodging costs claimed as an election expense.
The receipt covers a stay at a hot-spring inn in Kitami, Hokkaido, on December 7, 2014, five days after the election was officially announced. The remarks column lists 13 people, apparently the minister and his campaign workers.
The lodging was billed at ¥8,000 per person for one night and two meals. The beer was folded into the same total, Bunshun Online reported.
Takebe, 56, has faced seven earlier allegations reported by the outlet, including claims that he built a ¥30 million slush fund around a general election.
Over a separate 2024 general election case, a campaign worker was allegedly paid ¥860,000. Hiroshi Uwazume, a professor at Kobe Gakuin University, filed a criminal complaint with the Kushiro District Public Prosecutors Office on November 6.
A legal ban on food and drink
Shusuke Anno, an associate professor at Nihon University who specializes in election law, said the act bans offering food and drink in election campaigns regardless of who pays.
“Election law prohibits the provision of food and drink in connection with election campaigns, whatever the name on the payment, and handing out alcohol is out of the question. If the purpose was to thank campaign workers, it could amount to vote buying.”Shusuke Anno, associate professor at Nihon University
Takebe's office said staff had checked with those involved at the time and that the people who drank the beer paid the actual cost.
Anno disputed that explanation. If the money had been collected, he said, it should appear as income in the report or be deducted from the spending.
“If the actual cost was received, it should either appear as income in the report or be excluded from the expenditure. The amount including the beer was booked as lodging, so the explanation is unnatural. The suspicion that it was provided has not been dispelled.”Shusuke Anno, associate professor at Nihon University
The allegation adds to the scrutiny on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet over how much it will tolerate from a minister already dogged by funding questions.
Weekly Bunshun's November 19 issue carries further detail on the beer allegation.