Seventeen years ago, following the Lockheed payoff scandal that culminated in the arrest and indictment of former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, the Diet set up an ethics council in both chambers. In an eerie flashback to that episode, the Lower House ethics panel on Wednesday grilled former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka about pay irregularities involving her public secretaries.

The central question in the hearing, which was nationally televised for the first time, was whether Ms. Tanaka misused some of the money the government paid her secretaries. She categorically denied the allegation but went little further than that. Council members asked sharp questions but received only vague answers. For all the publicity it attracted, the hearing produced no hard evidence.

Most of the blame for that goes to Ms. Tanaka. The hearing was held at her own request, yet when confronted with critical questions she said she was "not in charge." And when questions focused on details, she often turned to her accompanying attorney for help. Ms. Tanaka, one of Japan's most popular politicians, was supposedly speaking to the nation as well. But in the eyes of many, she must have looked like a different person.