The leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama, denied allegations Thursday that he received around 50 million yen in shady donations and from fundraising party tickets about a decade ago. Speaking at a hastily arranged press conference, Hatoyama criticized the controversial magazine article written by Toshikazu Hanada, 52, as a total frameup. The article in Shincho 45, a monthly magazine that hits newsstands today, accuses Hatoyama of receiving a total of 49 million yen between 1986 and 1991 from Hanada."I've flown into a rage. I don't have the slightest idea why a story like this was concocted," Hatoyama said, adding he would take legal action. The accusation comes at a time when the opposition camp is pressing Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on allegations that his secretary, Takatoshi Furukawa, swindled unlisted shares, currently worth more than 2 billion yen, from the widow of Obuchi's former secretary in his constituency in Gunma Prefecture. Hanada, a former resort developer, was released from prison in November 1997 after serving a term for his role in a 1991 scandal involving unlawful lending by Fuji Bank. Hatoyama admitted during the press conference that he met Hanada several times and received 3 million yen from him for fundraiser tickets in the late 1980s. The lawmaker added that he returned the money immediately after Hanada's involvement in the 1991 crime was reported. In the article, Hanada claims that he gave 40 million yen in backdoor donations to a Hatoyama secretary and bought tickets worth 6 million yen from the secretary in 1990 and 1991. "I am feeling like I've been caught in some kind of snare," Hatoyama said, adding that he will immediately step down as DPJ head should Hanada's allegations prove true. Hanada's article claims that he made the contributions in the expectation that Hatoyama, then a Liberal Democratic Party member, would help his firm in a resort development plan in Hokkaido, favors that he never got.
