Japan Press Weekly

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2007 November 14 - 20 [SDF]

Yamada Corp. won more defense contracts as Moriya rose in rank

Defense equipment trader Yamada Corporation, which entertained former Vice Defense Minister Moriya Takemasa, rapidly expanded its business as Moriya was promoted to higher posts, Japanese Communist Party representative Kasai Akira pointed out in the November 13 House of Representatives special committee meeting.

Kasai urged Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo to fulfill his responsibility by launching a thorough investigation into the cozy ties between the military industry and the Defense Ministry.

Kasai presented a list of top ten defense contractors for each fiscal year that Yamada Corp. produced in September 2005.

The intimate relationship between Moriya and Miyazaki Motonobu, a former Yamada Corp. executive who was recently arrested on suspicion of embezzlement, was reportedly established when Moriya became the Defense Agency Aircraft Section chief in July 1990. In FY 1993, Yamada Corp. ranked second, following Itochu Corp., one of the largest trading companies in Japan, according to the Yamada Corp.’s list.

In 1994 when Moriya became the Defense Policy section chief, Miyazaki began entertaining him at a golf resort. Yamada Corp., which ranked eighth in FY 1994, rose again to third in FY 1995.

After Moriya was promoted to the minister’s secretariat in 1998, Yamada was placed on the top of the list in FY 1999 and FY 2000.

“The scandal involving Mr. Moriya and Yamada Corp. has developed from the cozy ties between the military industry and the Defense Ministry,” Kasai stated.

Pointing out that former Defense Agency director generals are also suspected of being involved in the scandal, Kasai demanded that the prime minister take the lead in the investigation instead of just leaving the matter to the Defense Ministry, the very institution involved in the scandal. - Akahata, November 13, 2007