Koyama's 22-month term upheld

The Tokyo High Court on Thursday upheld a 22-month prison term for former Diet lawmaker Takao Koyama for receiving bribes from KSD, an organization that provides mutual aid to small and midsize businesses.

Takao Koyama

Koyama, 60, a former House of Councilors member, was convicted of accepting 31.6 million yen in bribes from Tadao Koseki, 82, KSD's founder and former director, for posing questions in the Diet that benefited KSD's operations.

Presiding Judge Atsushi Senba said questions asked by lawmakers in Diet sessions have a great impact on government decisions.

"The defendant's act of receiving bribes in return for asking questions in order to benefit a particular party has seriously blemished the dignity of a Diet member, and betrayed the trust of the people," Senba said.

Koyama kept his eyes and mouth shut for most of the session. But as the judge detailed how the bribery transpired, he shook his head in apparent disagreement.

Before he was elected to the Diet in 1995, Koyama was a secretary to former labor minister Masakuni Murakami, who was found guilty by the Tokyo District Court in May for receiving bribes from Koseki for similar favors.

According to Thursday's ruling, Koyama received 20 million yen from Koseki in October 1996.

He also had KSD shoulder 11.6 million yen in salaries for two of his private secretaries between April 1999 and September 2000 as a reward for lobbying in the Upper House Committee on Labor Affairs on two occasions. This was aimed at increasing government subsidies for the Institute of Technologists, a school supported by KSD.