Ex-Japanese agricultural minister convicted of bribery

A former Japanese agriculture minister was sentenced to two years and six months in jail for taking bribes from an egg manufacturing firm while in office.

Takamori Yoshikawa’s sentence has been suspended for four years, according to the Tokyo District Court.

The court determined that Yoshikawa, 71, intentionally collected 5 million yen (39,000 US dollars) from Yoshiki Akita, the CEO of Akita Foods Co., between November 2018 and August 2019.

Yoshikawa had the agricultural minister post during this time, and was aware, according to individuals close to the case, that the head of the egg manufacturing firm was trying to swap dollars for favours.

Presiding Judge Katsuko Mukai called Yoshikawa’s actions as “extremely malevolent, since he negatively harmed the fairness of the administration of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries as a minister.”

The head of Akita Foods Co., Akita, 88, was expecting that the unlawful contributions would ensure that Yoshikawa, in his ministerial post, would provide the food firm preferential status for the egg sector in terms of animal welfare requirements.

Akita was convicted guilty of bribing Yoshikawa in October and sentenced to 20 months in jail, suspended for four years.

Mukai stated that he was “knowing that the money handed to him may have carried expectations and intents regarding his duty as agricultural minister.”

Yoshikawa, who was named minister of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries in October 2018, will stand down as a legislator in December 2020 owing to health considerations.

He confessed receiving the money but pleaded not guilty, claiming the monies were for “support for his political activity.”

Yoshikawa, according to Mukai, lacked “remorse for his acts as a legislator.” He called his argument of the bribery being used for political donations “irrational and far beyond common sense.”