Search｜Photos & Images & Videos｜KYODO NEWS IMAGES INC

Murakami denies wrongdoing in sworn Diet testimony

TOKYO, Japan - Former ruling Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Masakuni Murakami reads aloud an oath at a House of Councillors Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Feb. 28. Murakami was testifying as a sworn witness on allegations he received bribes from KSD, a mutual aid foundation, although he declined comment on the charges.

E

Nukaga denies receiving KSD bribes to push school project

TOKYO, Japan - Former cabinet minister Fukushiro Nukaga on Feb. 26 attends a closed-door House of Representatives ethics panel. During the meeting, he denied receiving 15 million yen in bribes from KSD, a mutual aid group for small businesses, in return for his support for a technical college project it was promoting.

E

Ex-LDP heavyweight Murakami quits Diet over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - A post bearing the name of Masakuni Murakami, a senior member of the Liberal Democratic Party, lies on its side Feb. 26 at his seat in the House of Councillors in Tokyo. A plenary session of the upper house endorsed his resignation the same day. Murakami allegedly received 50 million yen in cash in 1996 from Tadao Koseki, head of KSD, a scandal-tainted mutual aid foundation.

E

LDP heavyweight Murakami to quit over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Mikio Aoki, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party upper house caucus, speaks to reporters Feb. 22 on resignation offered earlier in the day by LDP upper house member Masakuni Murakami. The LDP heavyweight has been under fire over his links to scandal-hit mutual aid foundation KSD.

E

LDP heavyweight Murakami to quit Diet over scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) heavyweight member Masakuni Murakami (file photo) has decided to quit the House of Councillors over his links to scandal-hit mutual aid foundation KSD, from which he allegedly received massive financial support, LDP sources said Feb. 22. Murakami conveyed his decision to senior members of an LDP faction to which he belongs during a meeting the same day.

E

Ex-lawmaker Koyama indicted in KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Former House of Councillors member Takao Koyama (file photo) is indicted Feb. 6 on charges of accepting 20 million yen in bribes from the scandal-hit mutual-aid foundation KSD. Koyama left the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Jan. 16 and quit as a lawmaker Jan. 29.

E

Murakami agrees to testify under oath over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Masakuni Murakami, a former head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's House of Councillors members, agrees Feb. 5 to testify under oath over his ties to KSD, a mutual-aid foundation at the heart of a widening bribery scandal, LDP sources said. Opposition parties have been calling on Murakami to give sworn Diet testimony over his links to KSD, from which Murakami allegedly received huge financial support.

E

Mori offers 'heartfelt apology' over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori responds to questions from representatives of ruling and opposition parties about government policies at the Diet in Tokyo on Feb. 5. He offered a ''heartfelt apology'' to the nation over the arrest of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker in a bribery scandal, and promised to try to restore public trust in politics.

E

Opposition set to investigate KSD, Foreign Ministry scandals

TOKYO, Japan - Yukio Hatoyama (2nd from L), leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, Japanese Communist Party Chairman Kazuo Shii (3rd from L), Takako Doi, leader of the Social Democratic Party (2nd from R) and Liberal Party Secretary General Hirohisa Fujii raise their fists at a rally in Tokyo on Jan. 30, pledging to investigate a political-donation scandal involving mutual-aid foundation KSD and alleged embezzlement of government funds by a Foreign Ministry official.

E

Koizumi urges 'suspicious' lawmakers to testify at Diet

TOKYO, Japan - Junichiro Koizumi, acting leader of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's faction in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), gives a lecture in Tokyo on Jan. 30 prior to the start of a 150-day Diet session the next day. He said any lawmakers suspected of accepting suspicious donations from the scandal-hit KSD group should testify at the Diet.

E

Koyama tenders resignation from upper house

TOKYO, Japan - House of Councillors lawmaker Takao Koyama (file photo) tendered his resignation from the upper chamber Jan. 29. Koyama was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of taking bribes from the mutual aid foundation KSD. He was a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party until his arrest Jan. 16.

E

Takeyama elected head of LDP upper house group

TOKYO, Japan - Yutaka Takeyama speaks after being elected leader of the assembly of House of Councillors members from the Liberal Democratic Party on Jan. 23. He succeeds Masakuni Murakami who quit last week over his ties with scandal-hit organization KSD. Takeyama, 67, who formerly headed the Science and Technology Agency, will lead the LDP delegation in the 252-seat upper chamber where the ruling party has 106 seats, short of a majority.

E

Aso replaces Nukaga as state minister for economic policy

TOKYO, Japan - Taro Aso, 60, meets the press in Tokyo on Jan. 23 after replacing Fukushiro Nukaga as state minister for economic and fiscal policy and information technology. Nukaga resigned earlier in the day over a scandal involving small-business insurer KSD.

E

Nukaga resigns over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Fukushiro Nukaga, 57, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, comes out of the prime minister's official residence Jan. 23 after tendering his resignation to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in the wake of allegations regarding his receipt of 15 million yen from mutual aid foundation KSD in 1999 and 2000. Mori accepted Nukaga's resignation and appointed Taro Aso, a former Economic Planning Agency chief, as his replacement.

E

Opposition demands LDP members speak on KSD under oath

TOKYO, Japan - Members of four opposition parties sit for a joint session Jan. 17 to look into bribery scandals allegedly involving Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers. The opposition camp decided to demand three LDP members be summoned to give sworn testimony in parliament.

E

Opposition demands LDP members speak under oath on KSD

TOKYO, Japan - Kanju Sato (L), a member of the leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan, submits to Shozo Harada, chairman of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, an opposition request that a extraordinary committee session be held to investigate bribery allegations involving scandal-hit mutual aid foundation KSD. The Diet is in recess until the next ordinary session, scheduled to start Jan. 31.

E

LDP's Koyama arrested for allegedly taking bribe

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Takao Koyama, a Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Councillors, who was arrested Jan. 16 on suspicion of accepting bribe from KSD, an industrial insurance foundation.

E

Murakami quits as LDP upper house chief over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Jan. 15 Kyodo - Masakuni Murakami, a veteran member of the House of Councillors from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), leaves a room at the Diet building in Tokyo on Jan. 15 after resigning as head of the party's upper house group.

E

Prosecutors seek to grill Koyama over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Takao Koyama, a member of the House of Councillors from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Koyama, 57, was reported on Jan. 15 to have been asked by prosecutors to voluntarily submit to questioning over suspicion of taking more than 11 million yen from scandal-hit industrial insurance provider KSD.

E

EPA chief Nukaga received 15 mil. yen from KSD

TOKYO, Japan - Economic Planning Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga (file photo) was alleged on Dec. 30 to have received a total of 15 million yen in cash from the former president and founder of scandal-hit industrial insurance provider KSD.

E

KSD's Koseki gets suspended term for bribery

TOKYO, Japan - Tadao Koseki (L), founder and former head of KSD, a government-authorized foundation for small businesses, enters the Tokyo District Court on March 26 to hear the ruling in his bribery case. The court sentenced him to a three-year prison term, suspended for five years, for bribing former Labor Minister Masakuni Murakami and Takao Koyama, former member of the House of Councillors.

E

Murakami gets 2-year, 2-month prison term

TOKYO, Japan - Former Labor Minister Masakuni Murakami (file photo) was sentenced by Tokyo District Court on May 20 to two years and two months in prison and fined 72.88 million yen on charges of taking bribes from KSD, an organization that provides industrial accident insurance to small businesses. (Kyodo)

E

EPA chief Nukaga received 15 mil. yen from KSD

TOKYO, Japan - Economic Planning Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga (file photo) was alleged on Dec. 30 to have received a total of 15 million yen in cash from the former president and founder of scandal-hit industrial insurance provider KSD.

E

Prison term upheld for ex-labor minister in KSD bribery case

TOKYO, Japan - The Tokyo High Court on Dec. 19 upholds a lower court ruling sentencing former Labor Minister Masakuni Murakami (file photo) to two years and two months in prison and fining him 72.8 million yen for taking bribes from KSD, an organization that provides industrial accident liability insurance to small businesses. (Kyodo)

E

(2)Murakami gets 2-year, 2-month prison term

TOKYO, Japan - Former Labor Minister Masakuni Murakami enters the Tokyo District Court on May 20. Murakami was sentenced to two years and two months in prison and fined 72.88 million yen for taking brribes from KSD, an organization providing industrial accident insurance to small businesses. (Kyodo)

E

Ex-lawmaker Koyama gets jail term in KSD bribery case

TOKYO, Japan - Former Japanese lawmaker Takao Koyama enters the Tokyo District Court on Sept. 6. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison for taking bribes from KSD in return for asking a question in the Diet that benefited the organization. (Kyodo)

E

Former Labor Minister Murakami released

TOKYO, Japan - Former Labor Minister Masakuni Murakami is released from a Tokyo detention facility after pleading not guilty in court July 2 to receiving 72 million yen in bribes from KSD, a mutual-aid foundation for small businesses, in return for asking a question in parliament to help KSD founder Tadao Koseki.

E

Ex-labor minister pleads not guilty to taking bribes from KSD

TOKYO, Japan - Former Labor Minister Masakuni Murakami (file photo) pleaded not guilty at the Tokyo District Court on July 2 to receiving 72 million yen in bribes from KSD, a mutual-aid foundation for small businesses.

E

Former KSD chief Koseki admits bribing 2 lawmakers

TOKYO, Japan - Tadao Koseki, founder and former head of KSD, a government-authorized mutual-aid organization, enters the Tokyo District Court on June 29. He admitted bribing two House of Councillors members in return for them asking questions in the Diet that benefited KSD.

E

Ex-lawmaker Koyama denies wrongdoing in KSD scandal+

TOKYO, Japan - Takao Koyama (in file photo), a former lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), acknowledged in the first hearing of his trial June 27 that he received money from the mutual aid provider KSD but denied it was an influence-peddling bribe.

E

Embezzlement trial of ex-KSD chief Koseki opens

TOKYO, Japan - Tadao Koseki (L), founder and former head of scandal-tainted mutual-aid foundation KSD, enters the Tokyo District Court on May 1. Koseki stands indicted on charges of embezzling funds from the foundation and breach of trust.

E

Murakami arrested over KSD bribery case

TOKYO, Japan - Former Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) heavyweight Masakuni Murakami (R in the photo taken in September 1996) was arrested on March 1 in connection with alleged bribetaking from scandal-tainted mutual aid foundation KSD. Shaking hands with Murakami at a Tokyo hotel is then KSD head Tadao Koseki.

E

Murakami denies wrongdoing in sworn Diet testimony

TOKYO, Japan - Former ruling Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Masakuni Murakami reads aloud an oath at a House of Councillors Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Feb. 28. Murakami was testifying as a sworn witness on allegations he received bribes from KSD, a mutual aid foundation, although he declined comment on the charges.

E

Nukaga denies receiving KSD bribes to push school project

TOKYO, Japan - Former cabinet minister Fukushiro Nukaga on Feb. 26 attends a closed-door House of Representatives ethics panel. During the meeting, he denied receiving 15 million yen in bribes from KSD, a mutual aid group for small businesses, in return for his support for a technical college project it was promoting.

E

Ex-LDP heavyweight Murakami quits Diet over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - A post bearing the name of Masakuni Murakami, a senior member of the Liberal Democratic Party, lies on its side Feb. 26 at his seat in the House of Councillors in Tokyo. A plenary session of the upper house endorsed his resignation the same day. Murakami allegedly received 50 million yen in cash in 1996 from Tadao Koseki, head of KSD, a scandal-tainted mutual aid foundation.

E

LDP heavyweight Murakami to quit over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Mikio Aoki, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party upper house caucus, speaks to reporters Feb. 22 on resignation offered earlier in the day by LDP upper house member Masakuni Murakami. The LDP heavyweight has been under fire over his links to scandal-hit mutual aid foundation KSD.

E

Murakami agrees to testify under oath over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Masakuni Murakami, a former head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's House of Councillors members, agrees Feb. 5 to testify under oath over his ties to KSD, a mutual-aid foundation at the heart of a widening bribery scandal, LDP sources said. Opposition parties have been calling on Murakami to give sworn Diet testimony over his links to KSD, from which Murakami allegedly received huge financial support.

E

Mori offers 'heartfelt apology' over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori responds to questions from representatives of ruling and opposition parties about government policies at the Diet in Tokyo on Feb. 5. He offered a ''heartfelt apology'' to the nation over the arrest of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker in a bribery scandal, and promised to try to restore public trust in politics.

E

Opposition set to investigate KSD, Foreign Ministry scandals

TOKYO, Japan - Yukio Hatoyama (2nd from L), leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, Japanese Communist Party Chairman Kazuo Shii (3rd from L), Takako Doi, leader of the Social Democratic Party (2nd from R) and Liberal Party Secretary General Hirohisa Fujii raise their fists at a rally in Tokyo on Jan. 30, pledging to investigate a political-donation scandal involving mutual-aid foundation KSD and alleged embezzlement of government funds by a Foreign Ministry official.

E

Koizumi urges 'suspicious' lawmakers to testify at Diet

TOKYO, Japan - Junichiro Koizumi, acting leader of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's faction in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), gives a lecture in Tokyo on Jan. 30 prior to the start of a 150-day Diet session the next day. He said any lawmakers suspected of accepting suspicious donations from the scandal-hit KSD group should testify at the Diet.

E

Koyama tenders resignation from upper house

TOKYO, Japan - House of Councillors lawmaker Takao Koyama (file photo) tendered his resignation from the upper chamber Jan. 29. Koyama was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of taking bribes from the mutual aid foundation KSD. He was a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party until his arrest Jan. 16.

E

Takeyama elected head of LDP upper house group

TOKYO, Japan - Yutaka Takeyama speaks after being elected leader of the assembly of House of Councillors members from the Liberal Democratic Party on Jan. 23. He succeeds Masakuni Murakami who quit last week over his ties with scandal-hit organization KSD. Takeyama, 67, who formerly headed the Science and Technology Agency, will lead the LDP delegation in the 252-seat upper chamber where the ruling party has 106 seats, short of a majority.

E

Nukaga resigns over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Fukushiro Nukaga, 57, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, comes out of the prime minister's official residence Jan. 23 after tendering his resignation to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in the wake of allegations regarding his receipt of 15 million yen from mutual aid foundation KSD in 1999 and 2000. Mori accepted Nukaga's resignation and appointed Taro Aso, a former Economic Planning Agency chief, as his replacement.

E

Aso replaces Nukaga as state minister for economic policy

TOKYO, Japan - Taro Aso, 60, meets the press in Tokyo on Jan. 23 after replacing Fukushiro Nukaga as state minister for economic and fiscal policy and information technology. Nukaga resigned earlier in the day over a scandal involving small-business insurer KSD.

E

LDP's Koyama arrested for allegedly taking bribe

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Takao Koyama, a Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Councillors, who was arrested Jan. 16 on suspicion of accepting bribe from KSD, an industrial insurance foundation.

E

Former KSD chief allegedly bribed Koyama

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows Tadao Koseki, the 79-year-old founder and one-time president of KSD, an entity with special tax privileges that provides industrial accident insurance to small businesses, who allegedly bribed Liberal Democratic Party upper house member Takao Koyama. Koseki has been arrested and indicted for breach of trust and other charges of misusing KSD's money.

E

Prosecutors seek to grill Koyama over KSD scandal

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Takao Koyama, a member of the House of Councillors from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Koyama, 57, was reported on Jan. 15 to have been asked by prosecutors to voluntarily submit to questioning over suspicion of taking more than 11 million yen from scandal-hit industrial insurance provider KSD.

E

Former insurance group head arrested for misuse of funds

TOKYO, Japan - Tadao Koseki (C), a former chief of KSD, a government-linked insurance group, is arrested in Tokyo on Nov. 8 for allegedly misappropriating the group's funds by lending them to numerous affiliates without sufficient collateral.