Japan Defence Ministry Raided in Bribery Scandal

Japanese prosecutors today raided the defense ministry over a bribery scandal that threatens to engulf the government of the prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, just two months after he took office.

The raid, broadcast live on TV, came a day after the arrest of Takemasa Moriya, a former senior bureaucrat at the ministry who is suspected of accepting bribes from firms in return for securing them lucrative contracts for defense equipment.

The current finance minister, Fukushiro Nukaga, has also been implicated in the scandal but has denied ay wrongdoing.

Prosecutors are investigating allegations that Moriya, nicknamed the "defense emperor", was treated to hundreds of golf outings worth 3.9m yen (£17,000) by Motonobu Miyazaki, a former executive at the trading firm Yamada Yoko, whose clients at the time included the US conglomerate General Electric.

Mr Moriya has admitted receiving 200,000 yen (£900) in cash from Mr Miyazaki, but insisted it had been a gift for his 60th birthday.

Opposition parties, emboldened by the scandal, have used their control of the upper house of parliament to block plans to extend Japan's mission in support of allied forces in Afghanistan.

Potentially more damaging to Fukuda, though, are claims that Nukaga had dinner with Moriya and Miyazaki last year. The finance minister, who was Japan's defense chief in 1998 and 2005, says he did not attend the dinner and denies accepting bribes.

Though no charges have been brought, the scandal is an embarrassment to Fukuda, who took office in September promising to clean up politics after a year of financial impropriety involving cabinet ministers under his predecessor, Shinzo Abe.

Fears that the finance minister's alleged involvement could lead to paralysis in negotiations over next year's budget have prompted speculation that Fukuda will call snap elections in search of a fresh mandate.

The government's top spokesman, Nobutaka Machimura, said the arrest was "extremely regrettable", adding: "The arrest of someone who held such a serious post has damaged public trust in the country's defense."

The hospitality extended to Moriya, who retired in August, is thought to have directly influenced the ministry's decision to buy five aircraft engines from General Electric in 2005 in a deal brokered by Yamada Yoko. General Electric says it has found no evidence of wrongdoing by its employees.

Moriya, 63, was the antithesis of the anonymous bureaucrat. During his four years as defense vice minister, an administrative post, he appeared at public events, even conducting reviews of the self-defense forces in a manner more befitting a visiting head of state. His wife, Sachiko, was also arrested on suspicion of accepting favors.