Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his younger brother Kunio ranked first and second, respectively, in terms of personal assets possessed by 480 House of Representatives members, according to a calculation by The Yomiuri Shimbun based on a lower house report of its members' assets released Monday.

The prime minister's assets amounted to about 1.64 billion yen ($26 million), followed by about 816 million yen held by his brother, who was a former internal affairs and communications minister and member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, whose assets amounted to about 193 million yen, was ranked 12th.

About 80 percent of Ozawa's assets comprised land, and he had no designated savings.

The figures were as of Aug 30 last year, the same day the 480 lawmakers were elected in the general election.

The lawmakers were obliged to report the total amount of their time deposits, call deposits and time reserve funds.

Cash in hand, ordinary savings and current account deposits were excluded from the disclosure, as such amounts can fluctuate wildly.

The prime minister has now topped the list three times in a row since an asset disclosure in April 2004.

Of the prime minister's assets, about 1.25 billion yen was designated savings, with company bonds, trust funds and other securities worth about 189 million yen being newly reported.

The Hatoyama brothers' combined assets accounted for 16 percent of the total of all lower house members.

The average amount of assets per lower house member, excluding stock, loan claims and borrowed money, was about 31.45 million yen.

The number of lower house lawmakers whose assets exceeded 100 million yen fell to 25 from 45 in the previous report.