＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
On January 11, 2019, there was news that “French judicial authorities have begun criminal proceedings to determine whether to prosecute JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda for bribing a Singapore-based company affiliated with the son of the former president of the World Association of Athletics Federations, a leading member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), over the 2020 Tokyo Olympics bid. The news item stated, “JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda has entered criminal proceedings to determine whether or not to prosecute him on the grounds that his transfer of more than 200 million yen to a Singaporean company related to the son of the former head of the World Athletics Association, a prominent member of the IOC, constitutes a bribe.
The investigation into the allegations has been underway for three years and is now in the “preliminary hearing process,” through which a decision will be made whether to prosecute.
Since the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office had just indicted former Nissan Motor Co. chairman Carlos Ghosn for “violation of the Companies Act (special breach of trust)” in the afternoon of the same day, the “exquisite timing of the report of the launch of the investigation” has led to speculation that “this is retaliation for Ghosn’s arrest?” The “exquisite timing of the news of the launch of the investigation” has led to speculation that it is “retaliation for the arrest of Ghosn?
JOC President Takeda stated that the remittance of some 200 million yen was a legitimate payment of consulting fees, and admitted that he was voluntarily interviewed by French judicial authorities in December of last year.
1. why the “bribery allegations”?
Personally, I do not think it is a good idea to pay a large amount of consulting fees to a “consulting firm” for “Olympics bidding activities.” However, it was probably necessary to spend some money to have the IOC’s influential commissioners lobby for Tokyo’s bid. This is probably why they hired a “consulting firm” for this purpose
However, perhaps it is my favoritism, but I think Tokyo would have had a huge advantage over Istanbul and Madrid, so there would have been no need to pay such a “consultant fee”.
Perhaps competing candidate cities were making similar moves, and the IOC selection committee members may have been “gold-digging”.
But how can this be “bribery”?
Is it possible that the French Penal Code defines “bribery” as the giving of money in exchange for favors not only to “purely public officials” but also to “persons in official positions,” such as members of the Olympic host city selection committee?
If so, I believe that “bribery” has been rampant in previous Olympic bids, but have there actually been cases of people being punished for “bribery charges” in past Olympic bids?
And if there have been examples in the past, have they been caught and punished by the “French judicial authorities”?
2. why “French judicial authorities”?
In October 2017, Brazilian investigators arrested Carlos Nuzman, president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, over his bid to host the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, on growing suspicion that he was involved in buying the votes of the voting members who would decide the host city.
This is a domestic matter in Brazil, and the Brazilian judicial authorities would have prosecuted the case in accordance with their own laws, so I do not see any problem.
However, in this case, it is difficult to understand why the chairman of the Japanese Olympic Committee should be prosecuted by the “French judicial authorities” simply because he paid a “consulting contract fee,” which is not a problem under Japanese criminal law. Whether or not that consulting firm provided any kind of “excessive entertainment” to the selection committee members is something that JOC Chairman Takeda does not know.
In the first place, on what legal basis does any country have jurisdiction over the “alleged fraud in the bid for the Olympics”?
If you want to prosecute the president of the French Olympic Committee according to French criminal law, then “go right ahead”, but isn’t this case an “overreaching act of France”?
If this were to happen again in the future, the presidents of the Olympic committees of the host countries of the Olympic Games would all be arrested by the French judicial authorities on bribery charges.
Apparently, this case is an issue that surfaced as French judicial authorities investigate a “corruption case involving a doping cover-up” against the father of the person to whom the JOC paid consulting fees, Lamine Diack, “the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations, a leading member of the International Olympic Committee.
However, Japan does not have an “extradition treaty” with France, so even if there is an unjustified “guilty” decision by France, Chairman Takeda will not be arrested unless he leaves Japan.
3. why “this time of year”?
In December 2018, the Chief Financial Officer of China’s Huawei was arrested in Canada at the direction of the U.S. Shortly after, three Canadians were detained in China.
Also in December 2018, an American was arrested in Russia on espionage charges shortly after a Russian female spy was arrested and convicted in the United States.
In 2010, a Chinese fishing boat hit a Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel in the Senkaku Islands and the captain of the boat was arrested, but China detained four Japanese businessmen in retaliation and demanded the captain’s release. The then Democratic Party of Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku lobbied the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office to release the captain “with a suspended sentence.
Journalist Yoshitaka Tanaka stated the following
In the world of international politics, it is an ironclad rule that if a country believes that one of its citizens has been wrongfully detained by another country, it will retaliate. The fact that the investigation, which had been quieting down, entered the prosecution process at this time is a strong punch to the Japanese government. The Japanese government will ostensibly deny it, but any politician would have seen it as a message from the French government.
4. will there be any impact on the Tokyo Olympics?
If it is found that there was fraud in the bid for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will there be a situation like “deprivation of host city status”?
Possible “worst case” scenarios include: “Prosecution of JOC and President Takeda by the French judicial authorities” → “Investigation by the IOC into whether or not all members of the selection committee committed fraud” → “Prosecution of the suspected selection committee members (it is unclear which country will be responsible for criminal prosecution)” → “Disciplinary action against the JOC and President Takeda”. →(Re)consideration of Tokyo’s eligibility as the host city → (Re)consideration of the eligibility of Japanese athletes in the event that the Olympics are held in another city (e.g., London or Beijing) → “Damage compensation issues arising from the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics”?
With the information I currently have, I honestly have no idea what the future holds. I will be watching the situation closely.