The Tokyo District Court on Oct. 22 sentenced a former University of Tokyo professor to two years in prison, suspended for three years, for accepting entertainment at high-end clubs and adult entertainment establishments as bribes from a research partner.
Shinichi Sato, 63, formerly a professor at the university's Graduate School of Medicine, was also ordered to forfeit about ¥1.83 million (US$11,660), the value of the entertainment. Both the prison term and the forfeiture matched what prosecutors had sought, Kyodo News reported.
The favors Sato granted in return concerned the setting up of a university program studying whether cannabis-derived compounds are effective against skin diseases, among other matters, the agency said, citing the indictment.
According to the ruling, Sato received entertainment worth a total of about ¥1.83 million on 28 occasions between March 2023 and August 2024 from a former representative director of the Japan Cosmetic Association, Jiji Press reported. The entertainment was in return for favors in selecting and carrying out joint research with the association.
Judge Hiroshi Ikegami said Sato's act "damaged the profession's integrity by receiving hedonistic entertainment." The case would not have occurred had Sato kept in mind his influence and the trust he had earned from society, the judge said.
Ikegami also said the briber, who lacked financial means, had in part sought to misuse the name of the University of Tokyo program, but that Sato's criminal responsibility could not be taken lightly.
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Yasuda Auditorium at the University of Tokyo. Photo by Unsplash |
Sato, who was arrested in January and has since been dismissed by the university, admitted the charges at his first hearing on Sept. 25. At that hearing, prosecutors said he had continually demanded the entertainment, naming specific dates.
During his trial, Sato said his own "weakness and complacency" about his position had caused the case. "It's inappropriate and embarrassing," he said.
Koichi Hikichi, 53, the association's former representative director, was convicted in May of bribing Sato and given a one-year prison term, suspended for three years, Jiji reported at the time.
A 47-year-old former specially appointed associate professor at the graduate school, tried in the same case for accepting bribes, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to forfeit about ¥1.96 million ($12,490), Kyodo reported. That ruling has been finalized.
The University of Tokyo is Japan's top-ranked university, placing 27th in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027.