Ex-Kadokawa Chair Tsuguhiko Sues President Over Bribery Probe

Former KADOKAWA Chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa filed a civil lawsuit on June 16 against KADOKAWA President Takeshi Natsuno and lawyer Tadashi Kunihiro, a former member of the company’s investigation panel. The lawsuit in Tokyo District Court demands ¥200 million (~ $1.3 million USD) for defamation damages tied to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics bribery charges.

The suit targets the January 2023 investigation report that KADOKAWA ’s external legal panel published without taking Tsuguhiko’s testimony. Tsuguhiko’s legal counsel, Nobuo Gohara, argued the report publicly prejudged his guilt, damaged his reputation, and compromised his presumption of innocence. Additionally, Tsuguhiko demands that the public report be removed from KADOKAWA’s website.

Following the lawsuit, Tsuguhiko issued a statement arguing that he claimed his innocence back in the day, his side of the story was never considered. He is simultaneously appealing his January 2026 bribery conviction and plans to sue the Japanese government in the future, calling his 226-day pre-trial detention without bail an unlawful act.

Court Says Ex-KADOKAWA Chair Tsuguhiko's Bribery Undermined Trust in the Olympics

The latest legal challenge follows a Jan 22 ruling by the Tokyo District Court, which found Tsuguhiko Kadokawa guilty of bribing a former senior official of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee. The court sentenced Tsuguhiko to 2.6 years in prison and suspended for four years.

Presiding Judge Yoshihisa Nakao charged him with conspiring with KADOKAWA’s ex-senior managing executive and a previous Olympics office head, and bribing Haruyuki Takahashi and another unnamed convict. According to the case, roughly ¥69M (~$429.1K) were given to Takahashi as bribes between 2019 and 2021.

The court characterized his testimonies as “vague, unnatural, and unreasonable” and noted a complete absence of remorse. Nakao also noted that the case represented a serious breach of public trust surrounding the Olympics. “This has left a stain on the world’s largest sporting event, a pinnacle aspired to by athletes all over the world,” the judge added.

Following the ruling, 12 out of 15 individuals indicted across the Tokyo Olympics bribery scandal had been found guilty by the district court.

Inside KADOKAWA and Tsuguhiko's Olympic Bribery Scheme

The case stems from a broader corruption investigation linked to the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2020, which were ultimately held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tsuguhiko was arrested in September 2022 on suspicion of bribing Takahashi, a former member of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee.

Takahashi allegedly leveraged his Dentsu network to influence sponsorship decisions and secured Kadokawa’s status as an official Games supporter in April 2019. However, Tsuguhiko claimed that the payments were a legitimate consultancy fee and said he had “absolutely no recognition” that the money constituted a bribe, at that time.

He and vice-chair Masaki Matsubara resigned in October 2022 after their indictment. Along with Tsuguhiko, former KADOKAWA executives Toshiyuki Yoshihara and Kyо̄ji Maniwa, a senior official, were arrested in September 2022.

The scandal expanded into one of the largest corruption probes in modern Japanese sports administration. Takahashi was also accused of accepting money from apparel company Aoki Holdings, with Aoki Holdings founder Hironori Aoki accepting the bribery charges.

For KADOKAWA, the controversy remains significant because of the company’s status within the global anime, manga, and entertainment industries. Tsuguhiko has now become a vocal critic of Japan's “hostage justice” system. The outcome could influence not only the company’s reputation but also impact discussions about governance and accountability across Japanese media and entertainment industries.