The average value of assets held by Japanese lower house members came to 29.24 million yen ($234,000), slightly up from a record low 28.92 million yen in the previous survey, according to a Kyodo News tally based on data released Monday.
The average monetary value of financial assets, land and property held by 465 House of Representatives members elected in October last year was up 320,000 yen from the previous survey released in April 2018.
Former Prime Minister Taro Aso, who serves as vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, topped the ranking with 614.17 million yen in assets, mainly thanks to real estate he owns in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the country, as well as in Karuizawa, a resort town in central Japan.
Seven of the 10 wealthiest lawmakers belonged to the LDP, with Hirohisa Takagi, a former banker, ranking second with 546.02 million yen in assets and Ichiro Aisawa, former senior vice foreign minister, coming third with assets worth 506.47 million yen.
The number of lower house members with assets of over 100 million yen rose by one to 26. Seventy-seven lawmakers said they have no assets other than stocks, up seven from the previous survey.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had assets worth 49.83 million yen, while his predecessors Yoshihide Suga and Shinzo Abe had 62.85 million yen and 101.04 million yen in assets respectively.
The average value of assets held by 97 new lower house members decreased 1.72 million yen to 18.64 million yen. Kenta Fujimaki, a Japan Innovation Party member, topped the list with 428.97 million yen.
The average figure for the 45 female lower house members was 14.92 million yen, up 3.48 million yen from the previous survey, and compared with 30.78 million yen for the 420 men in the lower house. Seiko Noda, minister in charge of gender equality and children's policies, was the only female lawmaker with assets worth over 100 million yen.
By average assets of party members, the minor opposition Social Democratic Party, with only one lower house member, ranked first at 53.83 million yen, followed by the LDP at 37.39 million yen and the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan at 20.42 million yen.
