Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba responds to reporters at his office in Tokyo on Oct. 7. (Takeshi Iwashita)

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Oct. 7 acknowledged that the now-disbanded faction he once led in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party failed to report income generated from fund-raising parties.

“It was an administrative error, and I take this matter seriously,” Ishiba said on Oct. 7.

He said the accounting mistake concerned a breakdown of income and not the total amount, and pledged measures to prevent a recurrence.

The Asahi Shimbun last week reported that the Ishiba faction did not report 800,000 yen ($5,392) gained from its fund-raising parties held between 2019 and 2021.

Under the Political Fund Control Law, politicians are required to include the names and amounts for any individual or organization that purchases party tickets exceeding 200,000 yen per event in their financial reports.

This is the latest revelation in a series of political funding misreporting within the ruling party that sparked a major scandal and led in part to the resignation of Fumio Kishida as LDP president and prime minister.

Opposition parties are expected to criticize the LDP over the scandal during campaigning for the Lower House election expected on Oct. 27.

Ishiba on Oct. 7 said the LDP will not give election endorsements for certain party members disciplined in the scandal.

Additionally, all LDP lawmakers who failed to report income from their factions’ fund-raising parties, including Ishiba himself, will not appear on the party’s proportional representation list for the Lower House election.

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