Political scandals are a problem in Japanese politics. Campaign funds are required for successful election results. The conservative Liberal-Democratic Party is particularly successful in raising money from businesses. It is assumed that political favors are exchanged for donations. Recently, suspicions that politicians kept campaign money for personal use seem to be confirmed. Former party kingmaker, Kanemaru Shin, forced out of the party in 1992 because of fund-raising activities, was arrested in March 1993 and found in possession of 5 billion yen (US$42.3 million) or more in gold, cash and bonds. Past scandals have never brought a thorough revamping of the political system. The scale of this one might, but nobody expects radical change.
