Corruption has softer side

A bribery scandal being uncovered after last year’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics allegedly extends even to the cute but lucrative stuffed mascot toys. Haruyuki Takahashi, the former executive board member of the organising committee at the heart of the scandal, is under further suspicion of helping a Tokyo-based stuffed toy company secure a contract to sell replicas of the official mascots. The company, Sun Arrow, is suspected of having paid several million yen to Takahashi, who has been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes from other companies that wanted to be officially affiliated with Tokyo 2020. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is investigating.