China News Service, November 23. According to a report by Japan’s "Yomiuri Shimbun" on the 23rd, a source recently said that the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a banquet on the eve of the "cherry blossom viewing", including the then first secretary of Abe. Many of them are under investigation by the Special Search Department of the Tokyo Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Data map: Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the "Sakura Viewing Party" held at Shinjuku Gyoen in Tokyo.
Photo by Sun Ran from China News Agency
According to reports, from 2013 to 2019, the Abe government will hold a large-scale banquet called the "Eve Festival" on the eve of the "Cherry Blossom Festival".
The "Eve Festival" was hosted by a political group called the "Abe Shinzo Support Association", and the representative of this group was the first secretary of Abe at the time.
According to the report, the special search department found in previous investigations that the fees received by the hotels hosting the "Eve Festival" were higher than the total membership fees collected from participants.
Based on this, the Special Search Department judged that this part of the funding gap was probably filled by Abe.
Currently, the prosecution is discussing whether to file a case for investigation.
Earlier, Abe had stated on this issue that his support club had no income or expenditure during the "Eve Festival", and denied that the support club office filled the funding gap.
Since 1952, the Japanese government has held cherry blossom viewing parties in Shinjuku Gyoen, the capital of Tokyo, inviting representatives from all walks of life to admire the cherry blossoms with the prime minister. The government shall bear the cost.
During Abe's administration, the cherry blossom viewing club budget increased significantly.
According to data from the Cabinet Office of Japan, the expenditure for the cherry blossom viewing event in 2014 was about 30 million yen, which increased to 55 million yen in 2019, and the number of participants increased from about 14,000 to 18,000.