The series is picking up speed in Japan. Almost two months after the start of the affair, a new arrest came on Wednesday, September 14 to add to the soap opera already rich in twists and turns of the corruption scandal linked to the Tokyo 2020 Games.
As with the previous ones, it concerns a hitherto highly respected figure in the Japanese economy, a business boss almost in his eighties, always elegant and never found wanting. Tsuguhiko Kadokawa (photo above), 79, president of the publishing house bearing his name, was arrested at his home on Wednesday. He is suspected of being involved in the corruption scandal at the Tokyo Games, where his company was a partner of the organizing committee.
Tsuguhiko Kadokawa is accused by Tokyo prosecutors of paying 69 million yen – $481.000 at current prices – in bribes to a consulting firm linked to Haruyuki Takahashi, a former Tokyo board member. , arrested last month as part of the same investigation.
According to several sources close to the matter, the money was paid in “ thanks » for helping the publishing house to be selected by the organizing committee as a partner for the marketing program. The contract was signed in April 2019. Kadokawa Corp became a sponsor of the Games in the “ publisher of books and magazines", a status which notably ensured the design and production of numerous manuals and official guides for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Tsuguhiko Kadokawa was not the only representative of his publishing house to have to follow the investigators. Two other company executives, Toshiyuki Yoshihara, 64, and Kyoji Maniwa, 63, were also arrested.
The three men allegedly teamed up to ensure the disbursement of the funds, in nine successive transactions carried out between September 2019 and January 2021, to a consulting company led by Kazumasa Fukami. This Japanese leader, also in his seventies, had not yet been cited as part of this vast investigation. Like Haruyuki Takahashi, he is a former high-ranking executive at the Japanese advertising and public relations agency Dentsu.
Son of the founder of the publishing house in his name, Tsuguhiko Kadokawa denies the facts. He told the media last week that he had never been aware of the slightest bribe. He acknowledges the existence of payments to a consulting company, but assures that they concerned a support service in the sporting strategy of his company.
Created in 1945 by the father of the current president, Kadokawa Corp began its activities in the publishing of books and magazines, before diversifying into entertainment, particularly in cinema and on the Internet.
Tsuguhiko Kadokawa is the second business executive to be arrested in connection with the Tokyo Games corruption case. Hironori Aoki, former president of the men's suit brand in his name, also a partner of the last Summer Games, preceded him last month.
The sequel could leave Tokyo and expand to Osaka, headquarters of the advertising agency Daiko Advertising Inc. She is also suspected of having paid bribes to the consulting firm run by Kazumasa Fukami.
Question: Will the corruption saga at the Tokyo Games affect Sapporo's bid for the 2030 Winter Games? At this stage of the case, nothing suggests this. A recent opinion poll commissioned by a Japanese daily newspaper found stable and still strong levels of support for the Hokkaido Prefectural capital project. It remains above the 50% mark.
The IOC, for its part, took the opportunity of the recent meeting of its executive board to ensure that the cancellation of the visit to Lausanne by the mayor of Sapporo and the president of the Japanese Olympic committee, scheduled for mid-September, was in no way connected to the case.
The postponement to the fall of 2023 of the next IOC session, initially scheduled for May 30 in Mumbai, further delays the choice of host city for the 2030 Winter Games. The Olympic body could also benefit from this to also postpone the announcement of the preferred candidate, the only one invited to continue the dialogue. By saving a handful of months in this way, the IOC would let the Tokyo Games affair dilute over time. And Sapporo 2030 finds color again.
