February 26, 2021
Japanese Communist Party representative Fujino Yasufumi, at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on February 25, pointed to the fact that the contents of a report drafted by the working group on satellite broadcasting had changed significantly after communications ministry officials received gifts and dinner invitations repeatedly from the satellite broadcast-related company, Tohokushinsha.
Communications Minister Takeda Ryota in response denied implementing any changes, saying, "According to inner-ministry hearings with all the parties involved, it is not true that broadcasting administration functions were distorted." Fujino, however, said that "it is an irrefutable fact" that the draft report was altered to suit Tohokushinsha's interests in part due to its frequent wining and dining of the relevant bureaucrats.
Fujino listed 39 exclusive dinners in chronological order hosted by Tohokushinsha where Prime Minister Suga's son Seigo works as an executive.
The luxury get-togethers took place mainly between May 2018 when the Communications Ministry's expert panel, Working Group on the Future of Satellite Broadcasting, issued a draft report and December 2020 when the WG issued the revised draft report.
In the 2020 draft, the sentence "alleviation of the burden of charges for use of infrastructure and satellites" was added, which was not in the 2018 version. In addition, the wording in the section on "utilization of bandwidth frequency based on right-handed transmission lines" was changed.
Fujino said that these changes are deepening suspicions that the 2020 draft reflects Tohokushinsha demands as a result of the frequent wining and dining of the ministry's high-ranking officials.
Past related articles:
> JCP Tamura demands summoning of PM Suga's son and 4 high-ranking bureaucrats to testify before Diet [February 20, 2021]
> PM Suga received Y4 mil donation from founder of media firm where his son works [February 8, 2021]
> Shii: PM Suga should be accountable for his son’s wining/dining scandal
[February 5, 2021]
Communications Minister Takeda Ryota in response denied implementing any changes, saying, "According to inner-ministry hearings with all the parties involved, it is not true that broadcasting administration functions were distorted." Fujino, however, said that "it is an irrefutable fact" that the draft report was altered to suit Tohokushinsha's interests in part due to its frequent wining and dining of the relevant bureaucrats.
Fujino listed 39 exclusive dinners in chronological order hosted by Tohokushinsha where Prime Minister Suga's son Seigo works as an executive.
The luxury get-togethers took place mainly between May 2018 when the Communications Ministry's expert panel, Working Group on the Future of Satellite Broadcasting, issued a draft report and December 2020 when the WG issued the revised draft report.
In the 2020 draft, the sentence "alleviation of the burden of charges for use of infrastructure and satellites" was added, which was not in the 2018 version. In addition, the wording in the section on "utilization of bandwidth frequency based on right-handed transmission lines" was changed.
Fujino said that these changes are deepening suspicions that the 2020 draft reflects Tohokushinsha demands as a result of the frequent wining and dining of the ministry's high-ranking officials.
Past related articles:
> JCP Tamura demands summoning of PM Suga's son and 4 high-ranking bureaucrats to testify before Diet [February 20, 2021]
> PM Suga received Y4 mil donation from founder of media firm where his son works [February 8, 2021]
> Shii: PM Suga should be accountable for his son’s wining/dining scandal
[February 5, 2021]
