Money scandals aren't new in Japanese politics, but this one is hot stuff because it's the first time the evidence implicates the slippery DPJ leader, Chairman Ozawa, by name.
Oku is a figure that is hard for normal people to relate to. If you had an oku to spare, you could buy four single-family suburban houses and have a little left to pay for landscaping. One oku is a hundred million yen.
Mr. Ozawa didn't get the full four hundred million yen. His share was 2400 X 10,000 yen. The largest bill in circulation in Japan is the 10,000 yen note. Can you picture a pocket big enough to carry away that much cash?
His office is saying it's nothing, not even a pecadillo. Nothing. How many people would love to have a similar bit of nothing in their pockets and not even have to pay taxes on it?
Okinawa Looks Like This
Peaceful: a beautiful place for a walk
自己紹介
- Chura
- Born and raised in the USA (NJ), I’ve spent most of my adult life in Japan. One of my favorite places in Japan is Okinawa. To me, Okinawa is a land of stories and an island of music, magic and mystery. The music is shima-uta, songs sung to the rhythm of a three-stringed lute called a sanshin. The magic is in the colors of land, sea and sky. The mystery? Mystery begins where the line between legend and verifiable human memories begins to blur. I am a member of the Archaeological Institute of America, chapter chief of a sanshin study society, and a founding member of the Marine Culture Research Association of Okinawa.