06.24.09, 04:26 AM EDTJune 24 (Reuters) - Japan's beleaguered government was hit by a fresh scandal on Wednesday ahead of an election due within months, after the finance minister denied a report he received illegal funding.
Kaoru Yosano's political support group apparently received illegal donations from a futures trading firm, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported.
The scandal could hit the government's already sagging poll ratings ahead of an election due by October.
Below are five facts about Yosano.
-- Yosano holds three economic portfolios on finance, the economy and banking supervision and has been a chief architect of economic policy in Prime Minister Taro Aso's government.
-- He spearheaded government plans to spend 27 trillion yen ($284 billion) to stimulate the Japanese economy in the midst of a deep recession,, saying he would temporarily give up his zeal for fiscal reforms. Yosano has been known long as an advocate of higher consumption taxes to fund bulging social security costs for Japan's rapidly ageing society.
-- He has held key government and ruling party posts for many years, including a stint as economics minister under former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2005-2006, and is known to have extensive connections among government bureaucrats.
-- In late 2006, Yosano resigned from the post of chairman of the ruling party's powerful tax panel due to cancer of the pharynx. After surgery to remove a tumour and some time off, he returned to politics and has served in the past two cabinets.
-- The grandson of two well-known poets and a graduate of the prestigious University of Tokyo, Yosano is a master player of Japan's chess-like game of Go.
($1=95.16 Yen)
(Reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
(hideyuki.sano@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 6441 1827; Reuters Messaging: hideyuki.sano.reuters.com@reuters.net)
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