Overview
- On January 26, Tokyo police sent case files to prosecutors alleging a 46-year-old former special associate professor accepted about ¥1.9 million in entertainments between March 2023 and August 2024.
- The 52-year-old Japan Cosmetics Association representative was also sent on suspicion of bribery after allegedly paying for Yoshiwara soapland visits and high-end Ginza clubs.
- Graduate School professor Shinichi Sato, 62, was previously arrested on suspicion of accepting repeated entertainments and was referred to prosecutors the same day.
- Investigators say the industry representative used entertainment meetings to request research on specific topics, including plant cannabinoids for skin disease, which later appeared in project items.
- Reporting indicates Sato held real authority over the joint research while the former associate professor coordinated arrangements, and Mainichi says total hospitality to the two reached about ¥3.8 million as prosecutors weigh possible charges.