Public discontent with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is palpable over a slush fund scandal involving at least 970 million yen (US$6.5 million) in unreported income from political fundraising parties held by LDP factions. The Kishida cabinet’s approval rating was already in the so-called danger zone, below 30 per cent, and the slush fund scandal has pushed it below 20 per cent since the end of last year. What riles public anger about the scandal goes beyond the relatively paltry sum of money involved and encompasses the perceived entitlement of the political class ... (full story)