NARA (TR) – A former Gose City councilman’s ties to organized crime were revealed in a bribery trial connected to the receiving of a total of 75 million yen in return for facilitating an order for a local company to build a crematorium.
Despite being a public official, Hisanobu Komatsu, 72, had ties to organized crime and was considered the “Don of the City Council” while in office. The truth of the collusion that had been going on for about 10 years was revealed during the trial, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 28).
According to court records, the former president of a construction company in Gose City, 75, who was found guilty of bribery, visited the defendant’s office in February 2019 and made the following request: “I really want to do the construction work at the crematorium.”

His company would take on the construction work. In exchange, he would hand over a large public construction project to a competitor, which was how the system run by Komatsu worked.
However, the meeting would prove to be the start of the downfall of Komatsu.
When the former president of the construction company showed Komatsu a blueprint, the defendant responded, “Let’s go with that.” The former president was convinced that the collusion had taken place and breathed a sigh of relief.
The former chairman and others appeared as witnesses at the defendant’s trial and frankly stated that such collusion had become the norm.
According to their testimony, the number of civil engineering companies and construction contractors in the city had been decreasing year by year. About 10 years ago, there were only two left, the aforementioned construction company and another company.
The two companies began to adjust orders between themselves, and when they could not reach an agreement, Komatsu, who had connections with the executives of both companies, became the “referee.”
The construction of the crematorium was a large-scale project with an order value of over 2.4 billion yen. So, the defendant’s intervention was necessary. The defendant went to the other company to convey the former president’s proposal and obtained an agreement.
After that, in order to avoid suspicion of collusion, the other company formed a joint venture and participated in the selection process for the crematorium, but then withdrew midway through.
Komatsu supported the proposal to have the joint venture take on the construction of the crematorium. He received a total of 75 million yen, about 3 percent of the contract amount, from the construction company.
“I was afraid that if I didn’t proceed carefully, I wouldn’t know what he would do”
Komatsu was the longest-serving member of the city council. A city official who also appeared as a witness said, “He has influence, and I was afraid that if I didn’t proceed carefully, I wouldn’t know what he would do.”
During the questioning of Komatsu, he revealed his career history as a city council member.
After dropping out of high school, Komatsu joined a gang. While still a member of the gang, he began helping out in his family’s construction business in his early 20s, expanding his industry network that would later become his role as a “referee.”
At the age of 41, he was first elected to the city council in 1994 without a vote. When he felt that he had reached his limit as a yakuza, his father suggested that he become a city council member, which was the catalyst for his change of career.
There are many former gang members who have been rehabilitated. However, it seems that the defendant did not cut off ties with anti-social forces even after becoming a city council member.
“Misconduct in the course of his duties as a council member”
During the trial, Komatsu claimed innocence, saying that the money he received from the construction company was not a bribe but was merely borrowed. According to him, the reason for the “debt” was that he wanted to provide funds to an old acquaintance of his, a gangster, who was forced to move out of his office after being banned under the Anti-Organized Crime Law of 1991.
In their closing argument, the prosecution refuted the defendant’s intention to receive the money as a “debt.” The prosecution said, “Despite being a special-class public servant, he continued to have ties with gangsters.”
The Osaka District Court rejected the defendant’s argument in handing down its ruling on December 10. The court said that the money he received from the construction company to be a “bribe for misconduct in the course of his duties as a council member.”
The court sentenced him to four years in prison and a fine of 52 million yen. The prosecution had called for a seven-year prison sentence and a fine of 52 million yen. “This act undermines the fairness of the duties of a city council member and deserves severe criticism,” presiding judge Naoko Omori said.
The defendant was not satisfied with the sentence and lodged an appeal.