Japanese Health Vice Minister Resigns In Scandal

Japan's top health bureaucrat resigned November 19 in the latest scandal to hit the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and one of his former colleagues has been arrested on charges of bribery.

Nobuharu Okamitsu, who was appointed Vice Minister for Health on July 2, is accused of acccepting the use of a car, a 16 million yen ($143,440) golf club membership and 60 million yen ($537,900) in cash. His former colleague, Shigeru Chatani, was arrested on charges of accepting bribes from Hiroshi Koyama, owner of the Aya Welfare Group, a "non-profit" organization that operates several government-subsidized nursing homes in Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo. Mr Okamitsu has admitted knowing Mr Koyama for some 20 years, and that, up until last year, his wife had served for several years as a director of Mr Koyama's company.

Mr Chatani has admitted that he facilitated subsidies amounting to 3.6 billion yen ($32.2 million) to the Aya Welfare Group for the construction of special nursing homes, in return for bribes. He has stated that Mr Okamitsu initially introduced him to Mr Koyama. Mr Koyama, who was also arrested and has admitted to the bribery charges, has also told the authorities that he gave a total of 60 million yen to Mr Okamitsu on two occasions in 1994. Mr Chatani left the MHW last August to pursue a political career, but he was unsuccessful in his bid for a seat in the House of Representatives of the Japanese Diet (parliament).