Communications minister Ryota Takeda apologized Feb. 5 for a growing wining-and-dining scandal that embroiled four of his senior officials and is seen as a test of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's leadership seeing as his eldest son was involved.

“I express my deepest apology for creating a situation that has raised suspicions among the public,” Takeda said at a news conference.

His apology came as opposition lawmakers delve deeper into suspicions that the cozy get-togethers may have involved ethics code violations.

It emerged that the four high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications were wined and dined by Suga's son, who works for Tokyo-based satellite broadcast-related company Tohokushinsha Film Corp., and other executives.

On Feb. 5, Yoshinori Akimoto, director-general of the ministry's information and communications bureau, was specifically asked in the Lower House Budget Committee about a dinner he attended in December.

Akimoto admitted that the two people who paid for his dinner as well as the tab for his taxi ride home were Suga’s son and the president of a Tohokushinsha Film subsidiary that operates satellite broadcasting channels.

Both Suga’s son and the president hold high-ranking positions in the parent company. Suga’s son also serves as a board member of another subsidiary that operates a separate satellite broadcasting channel.

After admitting that one of the two was Suga’s son, Akimoto was asked if the topic of satellite broadcasting arose during the course of the dinner.

“I do not recall if that topic was brought up,” Akimoto told Hiroyuki Moriyama of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Moriyama then went on to state how difficult it is for even lawmakers to meet with high-ranking ministry officials and asked the prime minister if the fact that Akimoto spent two hours and 40 minutes with the two Tohokushinsha Film officials was because one of them was his son.

Suga blandly replied that he hoped the communications ministry would investigate the matter and ensure that all proprieties had been observed.

Ethical regulations covering national civil servants prohibit bureaucrats from being wined and dined by policy stakeholders. Even if the bureaucrat pays for his or her portion of a meal, a report must be submitted to the ministry beforehand if the cost per person is expected to exceed 10,000 yen ($94.80). No such report was submitted by the three communications ministry bureaucrats who met with the Tohokushinsha Film officials for meals that exceeded that amount.

The ministry has the authority to approve applications for satellite broadcasting. The two executives with whom Akimoto had dinner could be considered stakeholders, given their positions at the Tohokushinsha Film subsidiary.

Ministry sources said the four high-ranking bureaucrats all had separate meals with Tohokushinsha Film officials, but that Suga’s eldest son attended all the events.

The meal for one of the officials did not exceed 10,000 yen. The president of the subsidiary who wined and dined Akimoto with Suga’s son also attended a number of other meals.

After the wining and dining sessions came to light, the bureaucrats who were the guests were told to submit reports as well as to pay for the cost of their meals.

Moriyama made a point of noting that Suga’s eldest son served as an aide between 2006 and 2007 when Suga himself served as senior vice minister in the communications ministry during the Koizumi administration.

“Someone with no background and aged 25 doesn’t simply become an aide to the communications minister,” Moriyama said, adding that he did not imagine for one minute that the prime minister was in any way involved in the wining and dining scandal.

Moriyama also expressed sympathy for the ministry officials who likely were nervous of meeting with some of those working for Tohokushinsha Film in light of the fact that one of them was the prime minister's son.

After apologizing for the questionable actions of his subordinates, Takeda stated that bureaucrats were obligated to be aware of restrictions on their activities regardless of who the other party was.

He pledged that a thorough investigation would be held and appropriate disciplinary measures implemented.

(This article was written by Ryo Toyoka and Tomoya Fujita.)