FromSoftware’s Parent Company Chairman Implicated In ¥69 Million Bribery Steps Down

Three weeks ago Japanese media industry was rocked by the arrest of Kadokawa Charmain Tsuguhiko Kadokawa. Kadokawa is the parent company of FromSoftware, the developer of Elden Ring. He was arrested for allegedly offering bribes to organizers of the Tokyo Olympics organizing body, including its Executive.

The bribes were offered to get the sponsorship deal for Tokyo Olympics. The former executive of the committee, Haruyuki Takahashi, was also under investigation and prosecutors are trying to build a case against him. He also, allegedly, took bribes worth ¥66 million from two other companies, to help them get a sponsorship deal for the Olympics.

MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

• FromSoftware‘s parent company’s Chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa has been charged with ¥69 million bribery.
• He was arrested on 14th September for offering bribes to an executive of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee.
• He has now announced his intention to step down from chairmanship.

Now Tsuguhiko Kadokawa has been charged with offering ¥69 million in bribes, the charges he still denies. The prosecutors have charged two other people for collusion with the Chairman, which includes his former advisor Toshiyuki Yoshihara and Kyoji Maniwa.

The prosecutors allege that the transactions took place between 2019 and 2021 “from a bank account under the publisher’s name to the consulting company headed by Kazumasa Fukami, 73, who used to work with Takahashi in the same advertising giant, Dentsu,” as reported by Japan Times.

Takahashi, the former executive of the committee, was asked to get Kadokawa the sponsorship deal under ¥380 million and to help them get the deal done quickly.

After being charged, Tsuguhiko Kadokawa has communicated through his lawyers that he intends to step down as Chairman of Kadokawa. And the company will hold a press conference tomorrow, as they said in the press release, to address the matter.

The release further read,

We take this matter very seriously, and deeply apologize to all those concerned including our readers, customers, authors, creators, business partners, shareholders, and investors for the considerable inconvenience this matter has caused.”

It’s not clear whether this will have any effects on FromSoftware, as the Chairman’s involvement was personal, not institutional. What’s certain is that it laid bare the dark side of Japanese conglomerates.

What will be the aftermath of this scandal? Will it affect FromSoftware in any way? Drop your opinions below!