Former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, speaking Tuesday to a closed Diet panel session, effectively acknowledged that he received an unreported 100 million yen donation from the Japan Dental Association in July 2001.
According to opposition lawmakers who attended the session, Hashimoto claimed he has no "records or memories of" who attended the meeting where, according to prosecutors, he was personally handed a 100 million yen check from Sadao Usuda, the dental association chairman at the time. But Hashimoto said this must have occurred, because others told him so.
The former prime minister also denied that he played any role in the alleged decision by his colleagues to cover up the donation.