Foreign Minister Yohei Kono on Friday said he has ordered all Japanese ambassadors and consuls general stationed overseas to refrain from accepting any cash gifts from visiting Diet members.
The order, which comes amid a scandal involving a Foreign Ministry official who allegedly embezzled public funds, is an attempt to ward off public suspicions about shady links between diplomats and taxpayers' money.
Kono admitted that Diet members and other Japanese visitors often leave cash for wining and dining embassy staff when they visit missions overseas, which he called "a very Japanese-style custom." It is accepted that one of the main jobs for embassy staff is to arrange itineraries for lawmakers' overseas trips and thus politicians, as a gesture of their thanks, often give ambassadors or other high-ranking diplomats several tens of thousand yen in cash and ask that it be used to pay for meals for their staff.