Kyoto Prefectural Assembly member Yuichi Kishimoto is pictured in this photo from his website.

       KYOTO -- Kyoto Prefectural Police reported a prefectural assembly member to public prosecutors on Dec. 15 on suspicion of vote buying in connection with the Oct. 31 House of Representatives election, investigative sources have told the Mainichi Shimbun.

       Assemblyman Yuichi Kishimoto, of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is suspected of violating the Public Offices Election Act by promising payments for election campaign activities.

       Kishimoto, 68, was a member of the election camp for LDP newcomer Yasushi Katsume, 47, who stood in the Kyoto No. 1 electoral district as a successor to former lower house speaker Bunmei Ibuki, who has retired from politics.

       Kishimoto is specifically accused of promising to pay three campaign workers 1,000 yen (about $9) an hour for phoning voters to encourage them to vote on Oct. 12, during the election campaign period. According to the sources, Kishimoto has admitted to the allegations, and stated that the campaign team was not involved.

       Under the Public Offices Election Act, it is not illegal to phone people and ask for votes. Payment and promise of payment for election activities, however, are prohibited, except for employing sign language interpreters and campaign vehicle staff who have been registered in advance with the election commission.

       Kishimoto was first elected to the Kyoto Prefectural Assembly in 2015, and is currently serving his second term. Katsume beat former Japanese Communist Party legislator Keiji Kokuta, 74, and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) newcomer Sachiko Horiba, 42, but the race was neck and neck, with Kokuta and Horiba both making comebacks through the proportional representation system.

       (Japanese original by Takumi Fujikawa, Kyoto Bureau)

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