Overview
- Fukuoka Prefecture disclosed Monday that staff padded speaker fees for 2023–2025 One Health lectures by adding unverified meeting and preparation time.
- The additions pushed payments well past the guideline of ¥6,000–¥9,000 per hour, including ¥100,000 for a 55‑minute talk that officials counted as extensive prep time.
- Across 26 events, the program paid about ¥1.3 million to roughly 15 lecturers after staff adjusted calculations to match amounts they had already quoted.
- Governor Seitaro Hattori ordered the finance division to investigate and said the prefecture will overhaul how honoraria are set and recorded.
- One top recipient was Assembly Chair Yuo Kurauchi, who received ¥100,000 for a November 2024 lecture, and no criminal inquiry has been announced.