A former head of a major egg producer pleaded guilty to bribing ex-farm minister Takamori Yoshikawa during his first hearing at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Yoshiki Akita, 87, provided a total of ¥5 million ($45,200) between November 2018 and August 2019 to the then-farm minister in the hope of inducing favors regarding animal welfare standards, according to the indictment.
At the hearing, prosecutors argued that Akita, who led the Hiroshima Prefecture-based Akita Foods Co., gave cash to Yoshikawa, 70, in hopes the farm ministry would object to the implementation of international animal welfare standards which would have raised the cost of keeping animals.