The president of a publisher arrested for bribery at the Tokyo Games

The president of the Kadokawa publishing house, one of the largest in Japan, was arrested this Wednesday for his alleged connection to bribes related to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, according to Japanese public network NHK.

Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, 79, would have given about 69 million yen (481,000 euros) to a consulting company led by an acquaintance of Haruyuki Takahashi (78), a member of the board of directors of the organizing committee of the event held in the summer of 2021 and detained since August for an alleged case of bribery.

According to the investigation of the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office, the president of Kadokawa would have asked Takahashi on behalf of his company to be selected as a sponsor for sporting events.

The news comes days after two other members of the publisher were also arrested for their alleged links to the Takahashi payment network.

In 2019, the publisher signed an agreement with the organizing committee as the third official sponsor in Japan and is in charge of publishing the official Games programs and guides.

Takahashi was arrested on August 17 for allegedly accepting money from the well-known Japanese chain of suit stores Aoki for consulting services, which authorities believe may have been disguised bribes.

These arrests add to a long list of scandals that have affected the Tokyo Games and that prompted the departure of several high-profile figures linked to the organization.

Among them are the resignation in 2019 of the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee, Tsunekazu Takeda, who was involved in a case of buying votes between other national committees to favor Tokyo’s candidacy, or of the former president of the organizing committee and former Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihiro Mori, due to controversial sexist comments.