Photo/Illutration Ryota Takeda, the telecommunications minister, enters the prime minister’s official residence on May 25 for a Cabinet meeting. (Koichi Ueda)

A report released May 24 casts doubt on the contention by telecommunications ministry officials that they did not recall being told about a legal violation concerning foreign share ownership of a satellite broadcasting company.

An investigative panel set up by the company looked into the wining and dining of telecommunications ministry officials by executives of Tohokushinsha Film Corp., an operator of satellite broadcasting and other services.

Thirteen ministry officials were treated to lavish meals on 54 occasions, the panel's report said.

Twenty of the meals were not included in a report that the telecommunications ministry released in February about wining and dining by Tohokushinsha.

Tohokushinsha officials likely realized the repeated wining and dining represented a possible violation of ethics regulations for central government civil servants because the receipts for the meals used the code word “S Corp.” when referring to the telecommunications ministry, the report said.

Disciplinary measures were issued to a number of officials at that time, but the company's latest report indicates that more ministry officials were not only treated to meals, but also given baseball tickets.

Ministry officials have insisted they were never told that foreign companies and individuals held shares in Tohokushinsha in excess of the legal limit of 20 percent.

But the report released on May 24 shows that Tohokushinsha officials realized the illegal state of foreign share ownership on Aug. 4, 2017. And by Aug. 9, that situation was reported to the head of the General Affairs Division in the telecommunications ministry’s Information and Communications Bureau.

The report also concluded that it was rational to acknowledge that on Aug. 18 a report was made to the head of the satellite and international broadcasting as well as regional broadcasting divisions about the illegal nature of foreign share ownership and advice sought on what should be done.

Under the law, approval of the broadcasting operations must be revoked when a foreign ownership violation is discovered.

But the Tohokushinsha report pointed out that on Aug. 28, 2017, Yukio Kida, then an executive with Tohokushinsha, wined and dined Kozo Ibata, who was then head of the satellite and international broadcasting as well as regional broadcasting divisions.

The company also gave Ibata tickets to a professional baseball game held a few days later at Tokyo Dome.

Regarding the wining and dining of Ibata after the illegality was uncovered, the report said there did not appear to be a strong need or motive to lobby the telecommunications ministry official in an inappropriate manner.

However, it chided Kida for not thinking more seriously about the possibility that being treating to a meal could be considered as a quid pro quo for earlier lobbying efforts.

The report clearly points out a difference in understanding between officials at Tohokushinsha and the telecommunications ministry about whether reports were made about the illegal foreign share ownership.

The telecommunications ministry is conducting an investigation into whether the wining and dining influenced policy decisions.

On May 25, Ryota Takeda, the telecommunications minister, said one of the main points to be covered in that investigation is the gap in understanding between the two sides about whether a report was made to the ministry.

He added that data and information was being gathered from the relevant officials of the two sides by the panel. A report is expected in early June.

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