ichiro ozawa is the former leader of this country's main governing democratic party. he's facing criminal charges in connection with a political funding scandal. our reporter mitsuko nishikawa joins us live with details. mitsuko. >> reporter: hi, catherine. i'm in a park that's right next to the tokyo district court. many people are waiting, hoping to win seats for the public gallery. in yet another sign ichiro ozawa's case is attracting a lot of attention, it's extremely rare for a powerful politician in japan to be facing criminal charges in court. security is being increased in and around the building. ozawa is accused of falsifying financial reports. the charges are in connection with a $5.2 million purchase his political organization made. three of his former secretaries including house of representatives member tomohiro ishikawa were also caught up in the scandal. a lower court found them guilty last month. the case has focused on whether ozawa conspired with and delivered some kind of orders to his former aides. he has consistently denied any involvement. it is

a chance to witness the first day of ichiro ozawa's trial. they took part in a lottery to win a gallery seat available to the public. it's a sign of how much attention this case is getting. >> translator: i came here because i want to find out exactly what the truth is. >> reporter: security was tight in and around the court building. dozens of photographs and tv crews are staking out a position to capture the best image of ozawa's arrival. the hearing started at 10:00 a.m. ozawa is accused of ordering his aides to falsify a financial report involving a multimillion-dollar land purchase made by his political funding organization. the court took a recess after sitting for about two hours. early on, ozawa pleaded not guilty to the charges. he spoke for about ten minutes, insisting he knew nothing about the crime. >> ozawa is accused of falsifying financial reports with three of his former aides, the case involves a $5.2 million land purchase made by his political funding organization. he xiao waugh argued in opening statement that the trial sho

. >> what about the trial of the former dpj leader, ichiro ozawa. is that affecting his leadership? >> i think so. ozawa is a powerful politician, he controls the biggest faction in the ruling dpj. so noda does not want to make an enemy of him. so he's not speaking out about ozawa's trial for falsification of political funding reports. he's also taking a cautious stance on the demand from the political parties for ozawa to testify under oath before the diet. that runs counter to what the japanese people really want. 59% of people surveyed say ozawa needs to explain his case before the diet. some of the respondents might be even disappointed by noda's lack of leadership regarding ozawa's case. >> so what is noda doing to keep his approval rating from eroding any further? >> well, the prime minister is trying to show his leadership in other areas. noda abruptly instructed senior government official to make a decision as soon as possible on whether to join free trade talks on the trans-pacific partnership, or tpp. the former kan administration also wanted japan to get involved in the t

former democratic party leader ichiro ozawa is facing criminal charges in connection with a political funding scandal. it's extremely rare for a powerful politician in japan to face criminal charges in court. security is tight in and around the tokyo district court. in a park next to the building, many people gathered for the chance to win seats for the public gallery. ozawa is accused of falsifying financial reports. the charges are in connection with a $5.2 million land purchase made by his political funding organization. three of his former secretaries includiing tomorrow o hiro ishikawa were also caught up in the scandal. a lower court found them guilty last month. the case is focused on whether ozawa conspired with and gave instructions to his former aides. he's consistently deny nid involvement. it's expected he will again profess his innocence in court. >>> japan's government plans to decide whether to join u.s.-led negotiations on the transpacific partnership agreement. it will set up a panel next week to begin debate on the matter. last month prime minister yoshihiko noda tol