It’s one of those truth-is-stranger-than-fiction stories. And it’s got a bit of everything. Bribery. Expensive dinners. An elite educational institution. Sex. Lawsuits. Even CBD.
A University of Tokyo professor has been arrested for accepting over ¥1.8 million in bribes in exchange for research favors. Leading dermatologist Shin’ichi Sato (pictured below) also allegedly received complimentary visits to high-end hostess clubs and soapland brothels. The 30 visits to clubs and soaplands reportedly brought the total amount of his bribe to ¥3.8 million.
The 62-year-old is a professor at the university’s Graduate School of Medicine and was involved in a joint study over whether cannabidiol is suitable for treating skin disease.
The bribery came to light during a lawsuit by the alleged briber, Koichi Hikichi, who runs a company called Japan Cosmetic Association. Hikichi launched the study early. A former colleague of Sato, Ayumi Yoshizaki, is also suspected of receiving bribes. Japan Cosmetic Association had funded the CBD study and a related course to the tune of millions of yen.
Tokyo police have also referred Hikichi to prosecutors. This is much more than just a bit of money to curry favor with a potential client. Because the University of Tokyo is a national university (and by some measures, the most prestigious in the land), it counts as bribing a public servant, which is treated more seriously by the law.
Hikichi claims that Sato and Yoshizaki demanded money, leading him to consult with police over what he felt was extortion. The university shortly later ended the study, prompting Hikichi to sue Sato and the university.
Hikichi was wining and dining Sato, such as at a high-end French restaurant to the eye-watering tune of ¥156,358 for a single meal. Such lavish dinners became a twice-monthly occurrence from 2023 onward, including trips to exclusive eateries in Ginza and Nishi-Azabu. After dinner, the men went on to clubs in Ginza to spend time with hostesses.
Eventually, from April 2024, the treats included trips to soaplands in Yoshiwara, east Tokyo. These trips cost more than ¥200,000 each time, which is an insane amount considering the usual cost of an hour at a regular soapland. These must have been very high-end soaplands with all kinds of extras thrown in.
This photo allegedly shows Sato and his chum in the waiting room of Tokyo Bunnys Club in Yoshiwara. You can see the anticipation practically bursting out of them.
Sato has admitted to the entertainment, though has claimed he tried to pay for the first French meal but was preempted by Hikichi. Likewise, he claims that Hikichi was the one who initiated the trips to the Yoshiwara soaplands, and that he only had “academic conversations” at the soaplands.
The University of Tokyo has vowed to introduce reforms to prevent this kind of relationship from developing in the future.
“We will immediately implement these reforms and build an appropriate operational structure with enhanced governance,” President Teruo Fujii said in a statement. Sato’s arrest is “extremely regrettable, outrageous, and deplorable. We take this matter extremely seriously and will deal with it strictly.”
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