Finance Minister Taro Aso is the biggest spender for wining and dining parties among current Cabinet members and heads of political parties, according to reports obtained by The Asahi Shimbun.

Internal affairs minister Ryota Takeda, whose preferred food ranges from pricy sushi to cheap plates of “motsu” (offal), held the most sessions over two years.

Political funds reported by political party chapters and fund-management organizations headed by the 28 leading politicians in 2018 and 2019 showed that they spent a total of 150 million yen ($1.44 million) for wining and dining over that period.

Their favorite places included expensive hotel restaurants, traditional “kappo” restaurants and reasonably priced “izakaya” pubs.

The reports showed that the 28 politicians visited 1,234 places on 1,922 occasions and spent 153,580,431 yen in total.

Aso, who is from Fukuoka Prefecture, dined 335 times over the two years and spent 45.51 million yen, or about 136,000 yen per session, easily the largest average amount among the lawmakers, according to the reports.

Aso’s payments were made to hotels 101 times. But over 17 visits, the finance minister paid about 8.4 million yen to a members-only club in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, the reports showed.

He also frequented “ryotei” fancy Japanese restaurants.

Takeda, who is also from Fukuoka Prefecture, dined 443 times, the most among the lawmakers, and spent a total of 31.5 million yen over the two years. He dined at sushi restaurants at the rate of once every three times.

Expenses totaling 8.6 million yen were paid to two kappo restaurants in Tokyo’s Akasaka district on 32 occasions, according to Takeda’s reports.

These two places use a membership system and do not accept first-time customers. On at least one occasion, Takeda spent nearly 1 million yen for dining there.

The two restaurants sent the charges to Takeda’s office for payment of one-to-two months’ dining, according to sources.

“We have handled the (matter) in accordance with the law,” Takeda’s office said.

Takeda also frequented Hakata Yokaroumon Honten in Akasaka, paying the izakaya for 28 visits. The place is known for a sweet and spicy fried motsu dish priced at 400 yen.

Koki Hinagata, the 31-year-old restaurant manager, said Takeda has attended the place with his aides and fellow lawmakers, ordering fried motsu and hot pot motsu--both specialties of Fukuoka Prefecture.

“I know what he wants (to eat) without him ordering it,” said Hinagata, adding that he and Takeda are from the same hometown.

According to the reports obtained by The Asahi Shimbun by Nov. 30, hotels occupied the first to fourth rankings in terms of payments by the politicians.

The Okura Tokyo in the capital’s Minato Ward led the pack, having been used 68 times and receiving almost 15 million yen. Aso used the hotel 60 times and spent 14.7 million yen, according to the reports.

Tokyu Hotels, a chain that manages the Capitol Hotel in Akasaka, was the second biggest recipient, with six of the 28 politicians spending a total 1.56 million yen there.

The Imperial Hotel ranked third just with one patron, none other than Aso. He dined at the hotel 29 times and picked up the tabs totaling 5.6 million yen.

“Hotels have many entrance doors and are perfectly suited to hold meetings without being seen,” said Sadao Hirano, 85, who used to be the deputy secretary-general of the Liberal Party that existed from 2016 to 2019.

Two other hotels, three kappo restaurants and three sushi restaurants were also in the top 20 list.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has two favorite places, an expensive kappo restaurant and a Japanese restaurant. He paid about 2.8 million yen in 22 visits to those two places.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga dined only once in the two years, and paid 14,000 yen to a cafe, according to the reports.

Some places have long been beloved by Cabinet members, including Akasaka Szechwan Restaurant in the capital’s Chiyoda Ward.

The restaurant stands only 250 meters from the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Day or night, Diet members use the restaurant for meetings with aides and local politicians. One of the restaurant’s signature dishes is Sichuan-style mapo tofu with “sansho” pepper.

Hiroaki Suzuki, 56, the restaurant’s executive chef, said he has seen many lawmakers ordering a course meal priced at around 10,000 yen per person, but they only eat the mapo tofu dish because they do not have enough time.

The number of gatherings of lawmakers has drastically decreased because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

“I hope they will enjoy our dishes in their private time someday,” he said.

(This article was written by Shoko Mifune and Hiroshi Nakao.)