The Democratic Party of Japan-led government kicks off its first ordinary Diet session Monday focusing primarily on fighting the recession, but Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will also be forced to deal with DPJ money scandals.
The 150-day session through June 16 begins only days after prosecutors searched the private office of DPJ strongman Ichiro Ozawa — the party secretary general dubbed the "shadow shogun" — and the office of his fund management body over accounting irregularities in connection with a ¥400 million Tokyo land deal.
Offices of Kajima Corp. were also searched as shady ties are suspected between the general contractor and Ozawa over public works projects in the Tohoku region, which is Ozawa's home ground.
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