The Honohana Sampogyo religious group paid several million yen to a then member of the Fuji city assembly in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1986, one year before the prefectural government certified it as an authorized religious corporation, cult sources said.
The assembly member, Matsuo Oishi, 63, who later became chairman of the assembly, was asked by the Fuji-based cult to help with procedural matters in registering as an authorized religious body and consulted prefectural government officials on the matter in advance, the sources said.
Oishi admitted to having received cash in December 1986 and April 1987 but told Kyodo News the money was offered as political campaign funds for the 1987 nationwide local elections. He declined to clarify how much he received.