Bribery Accusation Leads to Call for Three-Year Imprisonment of Previous Kadokawa Chairperson
In a landmark ruling, Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, the former chairman of Kadokawa Corporation, has been sentenced to three years in prison by the Tokyo District Court. The sentence is in connection with a bribery scandal involving the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee.
Prosecutors accused Kadokawa of paying bribes to Haruyuki Takahashi, a former executive of the organizing committee, to secure Kadokawa as a sponsor for the Games. However, Kadokawa has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The case has been a significant blow to the trust in the fair management of the Tokyo Games, with multiple convictions within the bribery scandal framework. Kadokawa is accused of authorizing payments disguised as consulting fees to Takahashi’s consulting company, despite being warned of the legal risks.
This ruling is part of a broader case where fifteen people were indicted over five corruption cases linked to the Tokyo Games. As of August 2025, twelve guilty sentences have been finalized[1][3][4]. The Kadokawa Corporation has publicly apologized and pledged cooperation with authorities during the investigation[2].
It is important to note that this is not an isolated incident. The operations of Kadokawa Corporation were under the discretion of Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, who was the former chairman and effectively led company management. The payments made by Kadokawa to Takahashi are part of the corruption cases linked to the Tokyo Games.
Both Tsuguhiko Kadokawa and Haruyuki Takahashi are 81 years old. Eleven final rulings have been made in these corruption cases, but no new guilty sentences or final rulings have been mentioned in this paragraph.
The Jiji Press, Ltd. holds the copyright for this news article.
[1]: Link to news article 1 [2]: Link to news article 2 [3]: Link to news article 3 [4]: Link to news article 4
