Democratic Party of Japan Representative Tomohiro Ishikawa said March 14 that he will not give up his Diet seat despite being questioned by prosecutors about illegal donations allegedly made to DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa, whose top secretary has been arrested.

At a news conference in Sapporo, the Lower House member, who was one of Ozawa's past secretaries and in charge of donation-related paperwork for Rikuzankai, his fund management body, said that he hasn't thought about stepping down "because I worked in a sincere manner as an accountant (for Rikuzankai)."

"I apologize to the voters and DPJ supporters for making them concerned ... I will meet the prosecutors again whenever they request it," he said.