2023–2024 Japanese slush fund scandal

[2] On 18–19 January 2024, three factions of the Liberal Democratic Party (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai, Kōchikai, and Shisuikai) all announced their intention to dissolve.

[11] Following the assassination of Shinzo Abe in 2022, the LDP's popularity was significantly shaken after the extent of political influence by the Unification Church new religious movement was revealed.

[12] Kishida reshuffled his cabinet on 10 August 2022 in an attempt to purge UC-associated ministers from the government and regain popular support,[12] but public scrutiny continued over remaining cabinet officials with connections to the church, and support for Kishida's government dropped by a further 16% according to polls conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.

The Japan Times assessed that the placement of Heisei Kenkyūkai leader Motegi as Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party was a measure to reduce his ability to criticise Kishida, while Shikōkai member Taro Kono was appointed as Minister for Digital Transformation despite controversy regarding his handling of an Individual Number Card data breach.

Important Seiwakai members Kōichi Hagiuda and Hirokazu Matsuno retained their cabinet positions, as did Shikōkai leader Asō.

According to initial public allegations, dozens of members of the Diet from the Seiwakai were suspected of collecting at least ¥100 million from fundraising and storing the money in slush funds, in violation of Japanese campaign finance and election law.

[16] The same day as the removal of the Seiwakai ministers, the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan filed a motion of no confidence in Kishida's cabinet, which was defeated due to LDP dominance in the Diet's chambers.

[16] The scandal continued to grow late into the month, as the National Police Agency (NPA) raided the Seiwakai and Shisuikai headquarters.

"[8] On 7 January 2024 the first arrests in the scandal were made, with former deputy Minister of Education Yoshitaka Ikeda [ja] and his aide Kazuhiro Kakinuma being charged with covering up ¥48 million received by the Seiwakai between 2018 and 2022.

Japanese diplomat Hitoshi Tanaka speculated that the scandal could lead to a change of government, potentially impacting Japan–United States relations.