KYOTO (Kyodo) The former head of a scandal-hit kanji-promotion body and his son denied in court Friday any intent to willfully cause their organization to suffer losses through business practices involving their family firms.
Noboru Okubo, 73, former director of the Kyoto-based Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, and his son, Hiroshi, 45, former deputy director of the organization, denied criminal intent at the opening session of their trial before a single-judge panel at the Kyoto District Court.
"I had no intention to cause the foundation to suffer losses," Okubo said.