The Japan Liberal Democratic Party's recommendation of more than 40 candidates involved in the "black money" scandal has sparked public criticism.

According to the report from Japan's "Mainichi Shimbun" on the 28th, in the candidate list for the current House of Representatives election confirmed on the 27th, the ruling party Liberal Democratic Party recommended more than 40 individuals involved in the "dark money" scandal as their candidates, which has sparked widespread criticism in Japanese society. The report pointed out that among the more than 40 individuals involved in the "dark money" scandal, some were not recommended by the Liberal Democratic Party in the 2024 House of Representatives election due to party discipline and other reasons. In addition, the Liberal Democratic Party has relaxed the relevant restrictions this time, allowing many of them to simultaneously participate in both single-seat constituencies and proportional representation constituency elections, increasing their chances of being elected. The "Tokyo Shimbun" article said that Liberal Democratic Party President Takaichi Sanae has not only failed to investigate the truth of the "dark money" issue but also avoided fundamental political reform, making it difficult to prevent similar problems from happening again. The newspaper emphasized that the trust of voters in politics is the premise for driving all policies. Professor Okawa Chisato of Kanagawa University pointed out that the elections are not far from the last one, and voters still have a vivid memory of the "dark money" scandal. Against this background, the Liberal Democratic Party's re-recommendation of individuals involved in the "dark money" scandal who were rejected by voters last time may continue to fuel negative impressions of the party among voters and pour cold water on the Takaichi administration. At the end of 2023, the Liberal Democratic Party was exposed in a "dark money" scandal, where some factions demanded their affiliated lawmakers to sell political fundraising party tickets according to quotas and return the excess amount to the lawmakers in the form of "kickbacks," which were not registered in the political funds income and expenditure reports, becoming unregulated secret funds. After Takaichi became prime minister in October 2025, he not only appointed many political figures involved in the "dark money" scandal to government positions, but he himself was prosecuted in December of the same year for illegally accepting corporate political donations, causing strong dissatisfaction in Japanese society.