The head of the agency that oversees the nation's police forces has admitted to receiving 1 million yen from a construction company whose chairman is a senior rightist.
Kiyoko Ono of the National Public Safety Commission said Tuesday she received 960,000 yen in donations between 1995 and 1998 from the firm, which has not been identified.
Last week, Ono acknowledged that the same construction company had paid 20,000 yen to take part in a breakfast meeting she organized in September 2002.
And during a regular news conference Tuesday, Ono said an employee from the firm had paid 20,000 yen to attend a study session in June.
Ono said that "in order to avoid a misunderstanding," she returned the money to the company earlier in the day. She added that she has no intention of stepping down over the matter.
Ono, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, was appointed head of the commission at a Cabinet reshuffle in September.
"These (donations and party fees) were paid before I became head of the National Public Safety Commission," she said, "and I had no idea that the company's chairman was linked to a rightwing organization."
According to Ono, her political fund management group had received 240,000 yen annually from the construction company starting in 1995.
The contributions were included in her political donation records and submitted to election management officials, she said, adding that she did not believe donations were made by the firm before that time.
