Nakasone, His Cabinet Members Disclose Assets

TOKYO — Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and the 20 members of his Cabinet made public Tuesday an accounting of their personal assets that shows that Japan’s top politicians are not struggling to make ends meet.

The disclosures showed that Nakasone has accumulated assets valued at $925,200, and that the wealthiest member of his Cabinet has assets of at least $2.6 million.

But the accounting was not altogether thorough. Real property holdings, for example, were listed at their assessed valuation, rather than their market value, and stocks and securities were listed at their face value. The only bank accounts listed were time deposits, and the report made no mention of assets held in the names of wives or other family members.

Education Minister Masayuki Fujio, whose assets of $471,333 placed him among the poorest of the ministers, called the disclosures “rubbish.”

Called Half-Hearted

“It’s just going through the motions,” he told newsmen.

Other ministers criticized the disclosures as half-hearted, designed to appeal to the “peeping tom” instincts of voters.

One minister acknowledged that the figures were very much understated. Hajime Tamura, minister of international trade and industry, whose Tokyo home and the land on which it is located were listed at a value of $600,000, told newsmen he estimates that the property is worth as much as $3.3 million.

Tamura expressed surprise that his overall property holdings--three plots of land and five homes assessed at $1.7 million--ranked him at the top in terms of real estate holdings.

“If I have the most valuable real estate holdings, this Cabinet has brought together a group of not very rich politicians,” he said. “. . . In the past, there were politicians whose assets exceeded mine by yet another digit.”

A Nippon Television Network analysis showed that the market value of stocks held by Agricultural Minister Mutsuki Kato amounted to $933,333, nearly 18 times the face value of $51,933 he listed.

4th Such Disclosure

The announcements, made in the aftermath of the appointment of a new Cabinet on July 22, marked only the fourth time that Japanese politicians have made public even a rough outline of their wealth.

After a disastrous election setback in December, 1983, three months after former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was convicted of accepting a bribe from the Lockheed Aircraft Corp., Nakasone made disclosure of assets a requisite for serving in the Cabinet.

Labor Minister Takushi Hirai, who reported $2.6 million in assets, denied that he is rich.

“It’s just a manifestation of the decline in the value of money,” he said. “Whether the sum is large or small depends on your viewpoint. I don’t regard myself as that much of a man of property.”

Hirai said that about half of his assets were inherited from his father-in-law.

An Age of Thrift

Deputy Prime Minister Shin Kanemaru, former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, said that politicians of his age--he is 71--were brought up at a time when savings and thrift were important social values. He said that his assets, listed at $851,400, represent “an appropriate amount for 50 years of work.” His house in Tokyo, which is listed in his wife’s name, was not included in his report.

Kato, the minister of agriculture, suggested that all members of Parliament be required to disclose their assets, but the suggestion was promptly rejected by the chief Cabinet secretary, Masaharu Gotoda.