Ex-LDP member and offshore wind advocate arrested over bribery

Lower House member Masatoshi Akimoto, 48, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of accepting a bribe from Japan Wind Development in return for making requests in parliament that would benefit the company.

One of the Liberal Democratic Party’s most visible proponents of renewable energy, and one who is close to former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Akimoto is suspected of receiving ¥60 million from Masayuki Tsukawaki, 64, then-president of Japan Wind Development, a firm involved in all aspects of wind power development in the country.

While not expected to impact Japan’s mid- and long-term plans to promote offshore wind power, Akimoto’s arrest could have a short-term impact on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s efforts to promote his Green Transformation policy, which includes a massive ramp up of sustainable, renewable energy use in the coming years.

Akimoto’s arrest also marks the first of a sitting Diet member since June 2020, when Lower House member and former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai and his wife, Upper House member Anri Kawai, were arrested over an election vote-buying scandal. Both were found guilty in 2021.

Tsukawaki has reportedly admitted to providing funds to Akimoto as a "reward" for his interventions on the firm’s behalf in parliament. He first denied allegations of bribing Akimoto, but changed his stance in August. He resigned last week as president of Japan Wind Development.

Known as a strong advocate of renewable energy, which put him at odds with some members of his own party, Akimoto left the LDP after the bribery allegations came to light last month. He also stepped down as parliamentary vice foreign minister, and is currently serving as a proportional representative for the South Kanto block.

Prosecutors believe Akimoto received a total of ¥60 million from Tsukawaki via two routes connected to horse racing, something the two men were interested in. A total of ¥31 million ($205,000) came from a racehorse owners’ group the two were involved with. The suspected bribe was given to Akimoto between 2021 and this year.

Another ¥30 million was given to Akimoto in 2019 in order to register with the Japan Racing Association as a horse owner.

In return for the money, prosecutors believe Akimoto used his position in parliament to call on the government for a review of assessment standards used to award offshore wind project contracts in ways that would benefit Japan Wind Development. The firm was attempting to win contracts in the Tohoku region, particularly in Aomori and Akita prefectures.

In February 2019, Akimoto said in the Lower House that he hoped no excessive or unnecessary restrictions would be placed on wind power facilities off Aomori. In February last year, he made a similar remark after Japan Wind Development failed to win an offshore wind power contract off Akita Prefecture.

Akimoto is known as an ardent supporter of renewable energy and opponent of nuclear power. This makes him something of a maverick in terms of mainstream LDP thinking. But he is close to Akita native Suga and is a member of the former prime minister’s support group of younger Diet members, called Ganesha no Kai.

Akimoto has also been praised by digital minister Taro Kono, who shares his views on the need for more renewable energy. Akimoto was involved with an LDP Diet group that pushed for more renewable energy and helped draft the April 2019 law that opened up the way for offshore wind development in the surrounding seas.

Japan has a policy of having renewables make up between 36% and 38% of its 2030 electricity mix, although the plan was only officially adopted by Kishida and his Cabinet after they took power in October 2021.

Kishida's green transformation policy includes goals such as using 10 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030, and between 35 and 45 GW — the higher figure being equivalent to the power generated by about 40 conventional nuclear reactors — by 2040. That remains a daunting task given that Japan’s offshore wind capacity was less than 1 GW last year.