Major construction company Obayashi Corp. has admitted to an antitrust violation over bidding for work on the Tokyo-Osaka maglev train project, sources said Tuesday.
Obayashi has admitted to the Fair Trade Commission that it was involved in bid obstruction with three other major contractors — Taisei Corp., Kajima Corp. and Shimizu Corp. — exempting it from a fine under the commission's leniency rules.
The special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office and the FTC on Tuesday searched the headquarters of Obayashi as well as Taisei's offices. Investigators have been looking into how Japan's four biggest contractors won 15 out of the 22 construction tenders issued by Central Japan Railway Co., also known as JR Tokai, for the ¥9 trillion ($80 billion) maglev train project that will link Tokyo and Osaka in about an hour.