Investigators searched the offices of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Abe and Nikai factions on Dec. 19 over suspicions they failed to report large amounts of revenues gained from their fund-raising parties.
The scandal surrounds allegations of kickbacks of 500 million yen ($3.4 million) within the Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed the world s third-largest economy almost uninterrupted for decades.
Four Japanese ministers tendered their resignations on Thursday as unpopular Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reels from a major corruption scandal in the ruling party.Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed that he was stepping down and that Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, Internal Affairs Minister Junji Suzuki and Agriculture Minister Ichiro Miyashita had also tendered their resignations.