In October 2018, Aoki Holdings became an official partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, allowing it to utilize the event's emblem and sell legally licensed merchandise.
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Hironori Aoki, the former chairman of Aoki Holdings, was sentenced to a suspended prison term for bribing Haruyuki Takahashi, a member of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Executive Board. Aoki was found guilty of bribing Takahashi 28 million (£168,500/$209,000/€190,500) in exchange for a contract about the Games. The Tokyo District Court sentenced him to two and a half years in prison with a four-year suspension. In conjunction with the bribery case, two further former Aoki officials also received sentences of imprisonment with suspension. Takahisa Aoki, a former vice chairman of the corporation and the brother of Hironori Aoki, and ex-executive director Katsuhisa Ueda received 12- and 18-month suspension sentences with a three-year probationary period, respectively.
According to Judge Kenji Yasunage, the activities of the trio, “damaged public trust in the fair management of the Tokyo Games,” as per the Japanese news outlet Kyodo News. Yoshir Mori, the former president of Tokyo 2020 Olympics, had tasked Takahashi with finding sponsors for the Games. Recognizing Takahashi’s power, the three officials first sought him before turning to bribes to obtain a contract for providing the Japanese national team with official outfits for the Games. The court also observed that the cash was moved to Takahashi’s consultancy firm between September 2019 and March of the following year.
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According to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Takahashi got 51 million (£320,000/$385,000/€363,000) between 2017 and 2022, but only 28 million of the total was taken into account in the charges because of the three-year statute of limitations. Sincerely regretting his conduct, Hironori Aoki said, “I was passionate that hosting an Olympics would revitalize Japan.” The prosecutors allegedly demanded a two-year, six-month prison sentence for Aoki, accusing him of “trampling on the public value of the Tokyo Games by using it for his own interests.” Aoki was arrested in August, along with two other current and former executives from the company, and Haruyuki Takahashi, a former Tokyo Olympics board member.
Takahashi is accused of receiving bribes on four counts, but he disputes the charges. With 15 people convicted, the decision is the first in a string of bribery charges related to the planning of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. As a result of these instances, the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics are less likely to be held in Japan
In October 2018, Aoki Holdings became an official partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, allowing it to utilize the event’s emblem and sell legally licensed merchandise. Due to the COVID outbreak, only a small number of people attended the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Following the incident, the largest advertising agency in Japan and other businesses were indicted in a growing corruption scandal. Other parties involved in the bribery cases include a publishing company and a goods company licensed to manufacture soft toys with the Games’ mascots.
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