Photo/Illutration Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase speaks to reporters in Kanazawa on Nov. 18. (Yoshinori Doi)

A prefectural governor may have blurted out another dark secret about Tokyo’s successful bid to host the Olympics in that pricy gifts were given to International Olympic Committee members. 

The comments should not be left unexamined or unquestioned.

In a speech in Tokyo on Nov. 17, Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase spoke about the bid for the 2020 Olympic Games and mentioned that expensive albums were made and given as gifts to IOC members who had voting rights.

He also said the costs of the gifts were financed through the Cabinet Secretariat classified fund (official discretionary and secret funds). Tokyo was chosen to host the sports extravaganza in an IOC vote in 2013.

At that time, Hase was a Lower House member and served as the head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Tokyo Olympic bid headquarters.

The IOC's code of ethics at the time strictly prohibited giving expensive gifts or special conveniences, such as excessive hospitality, to IOC members as part of bid activities. Meetings between the bidding side and IOC members were also restricted.

These rules were introduced in response to revelations about rampant corrupt practices aimed at bribing IOC officials in the campaigns to win the rights to host the 1998 and 2002 Winter Games, held in Nagano and Salt Lake City, respectively, which led to a loss of trust in the IOC.

If Hase’s statement is true, the gifts constituted a violation of the ethical code. On the other hand, if he made a false statement concerning such an important issue, that means he critically lacks the vital qualifications for being a politician.

The cost of the album was 200,000 yen ($1,350) per book and one was made for each of the more than 100 IOC members, according to the governor.

Hase also said he was told by then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, “Make sure you win (the bid),” “We will give you any amount of money (you need)” and “We have Cabinet Secretariat secret funds available.”

As the head of the LDP’s task force formed to carry out the mission, Hase should have advised against such questionable actions.

Hase has retracted his recent remarks about the matter, saying, “They were statements based on facts that I had misunderstood, as pointed out to me by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.”

He refused to explain in detail how he misunderstood the facts and made such remarks.

With regard to the IOC’s code of ethics, Hase only repeated that the bid was conducted in line with the ethical regulations. He failed to fulfill his responsibility to clarify related facts.

Which part of his remarks came from his misunderstanding? How did he understand and act on the rules? These crucial questions remain unanswered.

Regarding the bid, bribery allegations involving the committee set up to promote Tokyo’s bid to host the Games by the Tokyo metropolitan government and the Japanese Olympic Committee surfaced in 2016.

A team of lawyers was formed in Japan to look into the allegations and French law enforcement authorities launched a full-scale investigation, but the actual flow of money and other specifics have not been clarified.

Although the use of the Cabinet Secretariat classified fund is mostly not disclosed, it does not mean the money can be used in any way. One key question is whether the confidential funds were used for actions that violated ethical regulations.

Other important related questions include to what extent the Tokyo metropolitan government and the JOC knew about the government and the LDP's thoughts and actions and under what kind of cooperative arrangement the parties concerned worked.

This is a potentially serious scandal over whether politicians at the core of Tokyo’s Olympic bid may have ignored the rules.

Not only Hase but all other people involved have the responsibility to offer honest and convincing explanations of what they know about the matter.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 21

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