Some 108 organizations held 274 political fund-raising parties in Tokyo in 2023, generating 942.21 million yen ($6.1 million) in total, a political fund balance report showed.

The report was released by the Tokyo metropolitan government’s Secretariat to Election Administration Commission on Nov. 21.

Although these fund-raisers have been a valuable source of income for political parties and politicians, they provided the setting for the recent money scandal in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

According to the commission, 17 organizations held “specified parties” in Tokyo that each brought in revenues of 10 million yen or more.

The LDP’s Tokyo metropolitan chapter held one party that garnered the largest amount, 85.86 million yen.

According to the report, the party, called the “Tokyo political economy forum,” was held at a hotel in Minato Ward in January 2023, and 3,018 people purchased tickets for the event.

According to a source, each ticket cost 20,000 yen.

The major buyers included a gas company in Tokyo, political party branches, and fund management organizations of Diet members.

The total expenditure for the party was 25.38 million yen, including 9.33 million yen for “souvenirs” and 12.45 million yen for “the venue.” That left a net profit of 60 million yen from the event.

“The unit price of a ticket for a party is fixed, and it is easier to ask supporters to purchase a ticket than to make a direct donation,” said an official of the LDP’s Tokyo metropolitan chapter.

At the end of 2023, it was discovered that lawmakers of the LDP’s Abe faction and others had failed to properly report funds gained through ticket sales to the fund-raising events in their income and expenditure reports.

The scandal led to revisions of the Political Fund Control Law in June this year. Starting from January 2027, the threshold for disclosure of party ticket purchases will be lowered from 200,000 yen to 50,000 yen.

Holding a fund-raising party itself is not prohibited.

However, the LDP’s Tokyo metropolitan assembly members have refrained from holding such parties in 2024 in response to the scandal.

With the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election and the Upper House election coming up in 2025, a senior official of the LDP’s Tokyo metropolitan chapter complained, “In truth, we want to hold the parties, but we don’t because it would leave a bad impression.”

The Tokyo metropolitan chapter headquarters of Komeito, the LDP’s junior coalition partner, also canceled its New Year’s Greeting Party in accordance with the party’s policy that such activities are “under severe scrutiny” by the public.

According to a Komeito official, the party incurred losses from cancellation fees for the venue and other expenses.

The branch listed an expenditure of 3.93 million yen on its income and expenditure report for 2023.

According to the chapter, however, subsequent fund-raising parties are allowed under the following conditions: (1) the names of ticket purchasers who spend more than 50,000 yen are voluntarily disclosed; and (2) to prevent off-the-book money, purchases are either received directly from the participants at the venue or by bank transfer.

A group of metropolitan assembly members belonging to Komeito recently held a party.

“‘Politics and money’ is not our problem,” one member said. “But it is a nuisance.”

Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First), a regional political party founded by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, held two fund-raisers in 2023, generating a total of 57.21 million yen.

Because Tomin First no Kai is not a national political party, it does not receive government subsidies.

Therefore, money gained from fund-raisers accounted for more than 60 percent of the party’s total income in 2023.

Tomin First no Kai needs to cover office rent and personnel expenses, so it plans to hold parties this year, too.

However, an official of the party said quietly, “The public image has changed, and it is certain that (supporters) are becoming less likely to buy tickets.”

Koike herself held a fund-raising party in April 2023.

According to the income and expenditure report of Koike’s fund management organization, the party generated 17.31 million yen in income.

Party tickets were purchased by 309 people, including major interior design company Nitori, which spent 1.5 million yen on tickets.

At a news conference in June this year, Koike was asked if she would continue to hold the party.

She only said, “I will ensure transparency.”

Tomoaki Iwai, a professor emeritus of political science at Nihon University, said: “Corporations and groups are restricted from donating to individual politicians, but under the current system, they can provide funds by purchasing party tickets, which is used as a convenient ‘loophole.’ It may be necessary to prohibit the purchase of party tickets by corporations.”

(This article was written by Kaho Matsuda, Natsuno Otahara and Naoki Nakayama.)