Japan Press Weekly

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2007 December 19 - 2008 January 8 [POLITICS]

Ex-top defense official rearrested for bribery of 3.6 million yen

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on December 18 rearrested Moriya Takemasa, former vice defense minister, for bribe-taking and Miyazaki Motomobu, former executive of arms trading firm Yamada Corporation, for bribe-giving.

Miyazaki sent a total of 2.18 million yen to two separate bank accounts of Moriya’s wife and 1.45 million yen to Moriya’s daughter’s account in exchange for receiving favors over procurement of military equipment, according to the prosecutors.

Akiyama Osamu, former president of Yamada Corporation’s U.S. subsidiary, was also rearrested on suspicion of remitting money.

The bribe money reportedly came up from off-the-book funds created by Miyazaki and Akiyama under the guise of compensation for company officials and kept by Akiyama in his accounts in the U.S.

Prior to their rearrest, Moriya and Miyazaki were indicted on charges of bribery in which Miyazaki entertained Moriya at golf resorts and Akiyama was indicted on an embezzlement charge.

In the background, however, are major arms-producing companies, arms dealers, and politicians benefiting from defense-related vested interests, as well as defense bureaucrats who are hovering around the allocation of the huge military budgets of five trillion yen a year.

To eradicate corruption involving military interests, therefore, it is necessary to not only fully unveil the truth about the bribery case involving Moriya and Miyazaki but also to dismantle the collusive relations between politicians, bureaucrats, the military, and private companies.

Furthermore, the Liberal Democratic-Komei government must be held responsible for pushing the arms build-up and sanctifying huge military budgets to satisfy U.S. demands.