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muikabochi

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  1. She apoligies from the bottom of her heart!

     

    TOKYO

     

    In a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his newly appointed trade minister was ensnared in controversy on Thursday after reports that her political funds were spent buying theater tickets for supporters and goods from relatives’ businesses.

     

    Abe picked Yuko Obuchi, the 40-year-old daughter of a former prime minister, to head the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in a cabinet reshuffle in early September. She was among five women given top jobs, as Abe sought to bolster his government’s popularity with voters.

     

    Obuchi apologized at a Diet panel for the controversy after the reports of misuse of funds, possibly violating electoral and political funding laws, hit the newsstands on Thursday.

     

    “I apologize from the bottom of my heart for the fuss created by my private matter,” Obuchi said in response to questions at a panel in the upper house.

     

    The Mainichi newspaper also said Obuchi’s political funding oversight body had spent about 3.6 million yen over five years from 2008 at a clothing shop run by her sister’s husband and a design office run by her sister, raising more questions.

     

    Obuchi said that she had instructed the political groups to investigate the matter, adding she believed the payments to her sister’s shop fell within the scope of political activities but that further checks would be made.

     

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