Corruption has leaked into Japan, the country with age-old traditions praising honor and conscience. However, the modern Japanese society is facing some corruption scandals. Recently, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suffered a double setback with the resignations of two female cabinet ministers who were appointed by him in the context of his gender reform. Yuko Obuchi, minister of economy, trade and industry, and Midori Matsushima, justice minister, resigned after allegations that they had misspent money in what opponents insisted was an attempt to buy votes. Mrs. Obuchi, inherited access to ruling posts from her father, a former prime minister. The young woman with little cabinet experience dared to rent a concert hall during the pre-election campaign. The opposition claims that she misused political funds on gifts and free theatre tickets for voters. The claims, which were priced at tens of millions of yen (hundreds of thousands of dollars) over several years, were taken as evidence of attempted vote buying. Midori Matsushima, justice minister, has been under fire for allegedly giving out cheap fans with her name and picture printed on them — another example of trying to buy support. One of those fans was for sale on an internet auction site, with the price having reached 2,100 yen ($20). The double resignations are the first significant problem for Shinzo Abe since he took office in December 2012, ending years of fragile governments that swapped prime ministers on an annual basis.
