Kadokawa Chairman Arrested in Tokyo Games Bribery Case

Tokyo, Sept. 14 (Jiji Press)--Public prosecutors arrested Wednesday the chairman of major Japanese publisher Kadokawa Corp. <9468> on bribe-giving charges associated with sponsor selection for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, 79, is suspected of paying some 69 million yen to a consulting firm between September 2019 and January 2021 as a reward for efforts by Haruyuki Takahashi, a 78-year-old former Tokyo Games organizing committee executive, to make the publisher a sponsor for the international sporting event held in summer 2021, according to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.

The consulting company is run by Kazumasa Fukami, 73, an acquaintance of Takahashi, who has been arrested twice for allegedly receiving bribes in the Tokyo Games corruption case, also involving apparel maker Aoki Holdings Inc. <8214>.

According to people familiar with the matter, the publisher struck a 280-million-yen official supporter deal with the organizing committee in April 2019, three years after the company sought advice from Fukami, who had served as head of advertising giant Dentsu Inc.'s magazine bureau, on how to win the sponsor status.

Takahashi, who was a senior colleague of Fukami at Dentsu, is believed to have worked on Dentsu and the committee so publishers were able to become official supporters for the Games.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]