TOKYO (TR) – A former project associate professor at the prestigious University of Tokyo (Todai) and the head of a cosmetics association have admitted to their roles in a bizarre bribery scandal involving daytime trips to Yoshiwara soapland bathhouses that were supposedly for “research purposes.”
Appearing before the Tokyo District Court on April 23, Ayumu Yoshizaki, a 46-year-old former specially appointed associate professor at Todai’s Graduate School of Medicine, shaking visibly on the witness stand, and Koichi Hikichi, 52, the representative director of the Japan Cosmetic Association, both admitted to the charges, reports Bengoshi.com (May 2).
Both defendants begged for leniency, claiming they were unable to defy the “absolute power” of the scheme’s mastermind, Shinichi Sato, 62, who is a highly influential former professor and ex-vice director of the University of Tokyo Hospital.
“Meetings” in Ginza
Prosecutors allege Yoshizaki received roughly 3.8 million yen in illicit entertainment from Hikichi for facilitating a joint research program. Funded by the cosmetics association, the program focused on the use of CBD (cannabidiol) for skin diseases.
The court heard how Sato used his supreme authority over university personnel and research approvals to extort the sponsor. The corruption began in February 2023 with a 140,000-yen dinner at a luxury French restaurant in Yurakucho, paid for entirely by the cosmetics boss.
Following the dinner, the associate professor, acting on his boss’s orders, instructed the sponsor to set up bi-monthly “meetings” at high-end Ginza hostess clubs, costing up to 400,000 yen a night.
“Research purposes”
The entertainment soon devolved into raw sexual demands following a business trip to Thailand, where the academics engaged in local sex tourism. The former professor reportedly returned euphoric, complaining to the sponsor: “At Ginza clubs, it costs a lot of money and you can’t even hold their hands.”
This led to a steady stream of all-expenses-paid trips to soapland bathhouses in the Yoshiwara red-light district, costing about 70,000 yen per session. Sato went six times, while his subordinate went seven times.
To evade detection by his wife, who was tracking his movements via GPS, Sato orchestrated the soapland visits during the daytime, deliberately leaving his smartphone in his university office. When later confronted by a university internal probe, the associate professor admitted to shamelessly drafting fake documents claiming the brothel visits were for “research purposes.”
“I’ll seriously kill you”
The corrupt relationship finally imploded in August 2024 at a Ginza restaurant. Enraged by the low profitability of the cosmetics business, the former professor threatened the sponsor.
According to an audio recording secretly taken by the Yoshizaki, the boss snapped: “Make a profit quickly, seriously. If the cosmetics stop selling, you bring the money yourself. I decide on personnel and whether this research continues. I’ll seriously kill you. If this course ends, you’ll have nothing.”
Realizing the relationship was broken beyond repair, Hikichi blew the whistle to both the university and the police.
Rigid hierarchy
In court, Yoshizaki claimed he was trapped by the rigid hierarchy, stating he had to obey his superior to keep the research course alive. Meanwhile, Hikichi used his closing statement to urge others in similar situations to speak up. “No matter how much your dreams are taken hostage, I wish I had the courage to say no. Continuing like that is hell.”
Prosecutors have demanded a prison term of one year and two months for both men, along with a financial penalty of approximately 1.96 million yen for the academic. Sentencing is scheduled for late May.
