Senior Japanese bureaucrat close to PM Suga resigns over wine-and-dine scandal

A senior government official with Japan’s communications ministry who was close to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga resigned on Tuesday after being embroiled in a wining and dining scandal involving a telecom giant and a satellite broadcaster.

Communications Minister Ryota Takeda said Tuesday that he ordered the former vice-minister for policy coordination, Yasuhiko Taniwaki, to be suspended from work for three months for being entertained by telecom giant NTT.

Taniwaki had already been reprimanded after a previous investigation found that he had been entertained by executives of a satellite broadcaster.

His resignation was submitted Tuesday and it was accepted.

Taniwaki was found to have violated the country’s ethics code for central government officials by receiving expensive dinners from Japanese telecom giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.

Under the National Public Service Act, meals paid for by official associates or stakeholders and costing upwards of 10,000 yen (92 U.S. dollars) must be declared by central government officials beforehand.

Taniwaki was also found to have breached the ethics law by failing to report the dinners with NTT executives when the ministry was investigating a different but similar scandal involving satellite broadcaster Tohokushinsha Film Corp.

Suga’s eldest son Seigo Suga works for the satellite broadcaster.

Takeda said the incidents had damaged public trust.

“Taniwaki’s acts damaged people’s trust in public service,” the communications minister said.

Takeda said that his retirement pay would be sequestered and possibly reduced further if more violations come to light.

Suga himself expressed his regret over the resignation calling it, “extremely regrettable.”

The Japanese leader said that the matter would be investigated further with a third party.

The ministry investigation found that Taniwaki was treated to meals by NTT worth 107,000 yen (987 U.S. dollars), on three occasions between September 2018 and July 2020.