According to Kyodo News International, in 1999 he received JPY8 million in political donations from the construction company of his father by channeling the money through political organizations. Individual politicians in Japan are banned from receiving more than 500,000 a year until 1999, after which all corporate donations were banned, but there was no such ban on donations by political organizations. On 27 December 2006 he resigned as a result of this scandal from his position as state minister in charge of administrative reform, only 3 months after being appointed by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.