Ex-University of Tokyo professor gets suspended 2-year term in joint-research bribery case

The Tokyo District Court on 22 October sentenced Shinichi Sato (佐藤伸一), 63, a former professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, to two years in prison suspended for three years. Judge Hiroshi Ikegami (池上弘) also ordered collection of about 1.83 million yen. Prosecutors had sought a two-year term and the same collection amount. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]

According to the verdict, Sato received entertainment 28 times between March 2023 and August 2024 at clubs and soapland venues in Tokyo, worth about 1.83 million yen. It was given in return for favours in choosing and carrying out joint research with the Japan Cosmetics Association (日本化粧品協会), a general incorporated association. The indictment, as reported by Sankei and Tokyo Shimbun, concerned the setting up of a social partnership chair to study the effectiveness of a cannabis-derived ingredient against skin disease. [ 3 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]

Judge Ikegami said the entertainment was hedonistic and strongly sexual in nature and clearly harmed the integrity of his duties. Nikkei reported that the judge said Sato headed the chair and held power over its survival, and that he acted habitually while becoming too close to the association. The judge also said the bribing party, which lacked financial means, tried to abuse the University of Tokyo's name. The judge noted a structural problem, in that the professor's authority and the administrative staff's audits were separated, but said the case would not have happened had Sato been aware of his influence, and that his criminal responsibility could not be taken lightly. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 ]

Sato admitted the charges. In questioning he said his complacency about his position and his weakness had caused the case, and he apologised, according to Nikkei. His defence had argued that the bribe was not large and that he had already suffered social sanctions, and sought a suspended sentence. TBS reported that the court cited the end of any chance of his returning to public office and his admission and remorse as reasons for the suspension. Jiji Press reported that he had been dismissed as a disciplinary measure. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 9 , 10 ]

Asahi reported, citing prosecutors, that the association's former representative director had proposed the joint research to test the effectiveness of cannabidiol (CBD). Sato was head of dermatology at the University of Tokyo hospital and had the authority to select joint research projects. Prosecutors said he had a meal of about 150,000 yen paid for in February 2023, and that after he remarked that one cannot kiss or hold hands at a club, he was also entertained at soapland venues. [ 2 ]

The association's former representative director (53) has been found guilty of bribery, and a former project associate professor (47), who was entertained alongside Sato, has been found guilty of accepting bribes. Sankei and Tokyo Shimbun reported that the associate professor's first-instance sentence of one year in prison suspended for two years, with collection of about 1.96 million yen, is final. A Sankei headline said governance failures continue at the University of Tokyo. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 11 ]