The subtitle of a recently published book by political analyst Atsuo Ito sounds like a joke: "The most irritating data book in Japan."

But much of the data in "Seiji no Suji" ("Figures in Politics") is no laughing matter for voters and taxpayers.

According to the book, the Japanese Embassy in Paris spent 8.49 million yen in March 2000 alone to foot the drinking tab of the diplomats. The money, which comes to an average 274,000 yen a day, came from the "diplomatic discretionary fund" -- a secretive Foreign Ministry slush fund that does not require public disclosure on its use.