Kadokawa Tsuguhiko, head of the Kadokawa media conglomerate, has been arrested for bribery. The veteran CEO was detained on Wednesday, suspected of bribing Takahashi Haruyuki, the former director of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee and former CEO of advertising giant Dentsu, with 69 million Japanese yen ($483,000).
Kadokawa, a member of the company’s founding family, is accused of funneling payments to a consulting firm led by Fukami Kazumasa, another former Dentsu executive with ties to Takahashi. The goal, to secure a sponsorship deal for the Kadokawa Olympics, was achieved in April of 2019, with Kadokawa publishing the guidebooks and official records of the games.
Fukami and Takahashi, as well as former Kadokawa executives Yoshihara Toshiyuki and Maniwa Koji, suspected of arranging the transfer of funds from Kadokawa to the Fukami Corporation, were arrested last week in connection with a bribery investigation. On September 5, Kadokawa Tsuguhiko denied any knowledge of the bribery scheme.
Former prime minister and Tokyo Olympics president Mori Yoshiro have also been questioned by prosecutors over the case, but they have not been arrested.
Kadokawa’s older brother, Kadokawa Haruki, turned the once publishing house into a major force in the Japanese film industry by making it a best-selling blockbuster, starting in the 1970s. In 1994, Haruki was convicted of drug smuggling and spent two and a half years in prison.
After he was fired from the company, Tsuguhiko took over as president. In 2005 he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kadokawa Holdings (in 2013 it was simplified to Kadokawa), as well as Chairman of the Kadokawa Group and its publishing house. He also served as president of the Tokyo International Film Festival.
The Kadokawa Group Film Studio Kadokawa Daiei Studio, together with Toho, Toei and Shochiku, belongs to the Japan Motion Picture Producers Association (Eiren) – the industry’s most powerful organization.
Among the recent films in which Kadokawa Tsukuhiko has served as producer or executive producer are Miike Takashi’s 2021 fantasy film “The Great Yokai War: Guardians,” the 2020 disaster drama “Fukushima 50” and the 2017 documentary “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda.”
[ad_2]
