TOKYO, Aug. 28, 2024—Manabu Horii, a 52-year-old former Olympic speed skatermedalist who had been a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, Aug. 28, 2024 resigned for violating the political campaign finance law, cutting himself as a rare honest member of athlete-turned LDP lawmakers that dominate the ruling party.
Horii presented his resignation to the speaker of the House of Representatives after releasing a statement in which he admitted that ‘all (irregularities concerning paying condolence money to voters) are my responsibility,’ in classic athlete spirit.
Public prosecutors had been investigating Horii since early this year and he resigned from the LDP in July, quitting as an independent lawmaker.
If Horii’s admittance of law violation and resignation sounds like sport spirit act, most other athlete-turned LDP lawmakers – that are many – may not be that honest, some of them disregarding athletic spirits of respecting rules and unity with others.
LDP has a long list of lawmakers who came from the sports world. Perhaps the most well-known lawmaker are former prime ministers Yoshiro Mori and Taro Aso. Both had run into irregularities, they they outfoxed investigators and maneuvered to remain in their posts, though Mori has abdicated visible posts while remaining a shadow kingmaker in recent years for his discriminatory comments about women. Aso, who is in his 80s, continues to exercise long and powerful reach in LDP decision-making.
Female athlete-turned LDP members also are active in the party. Seiko Hashimoto, a former Olympic speed skater, worked as minister of the payoff scandal-riddled Tokyo Olympic game.
In Japan, including the political world, athletes-turned politicians command a formidable influence over party and parliamentary jockeying, particularly in the conservative LDP hierarchy where seniority is observed rigidly and links with the underworld are rumored.
It’s partly because athletes-turned LDP members had strong connections with sports-betting, such as horse-racing, motor boat competitions, motorcycle betting, sumo, and baseball. At the grand sumo tournament held six times a year, a giant prime minister’s cup is handed by his deputy to the winner, proof of strong LDP politicians’ connections with the sport.
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