The Japanese call it kinken-seiji, or money politics -- the widespread if sleazy practice in which businessmen curry favor with politicians by giving them insider stock tips or cozy deals. Last week the biggest such scandal in years rocked Japan after the daily Asahi Shimbun disclosed a list of 76 political staffers, journalists and others who allegedly earned millions of dollars investing in the stock of a fast-growing real estate company called Recruit Cosmos. On the list were top members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (L.D.P.), including aides to both Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita and his predecessor, Yasuhiro Nakasone.
Recruit...
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