is a former

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

of the

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

, who served in the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...

and the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. A native of

Adachi, Tokyo is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. It is located to the north of the heart of Tokyo. The ward consists of two separate areas: a small strip of land between the Sumida River and Arakawa River and a larger area north of th ...

, he graduated from

Daito Bunka University is a private university with two campuses: one at Itabashi in Tokyo and the other at Higashi Matsuyama in Saitama, Japan. The university is known for its sports program, which is renowned in rugby and distance running, with the Ekiden team c ...

Career

After working as a secretary in the office of Diet member Kōki Kobayashi Akimoto became a member of the

in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

between 2004 and 2010 running in the national PR block. He was a member of the

between 2012 and 2021 running in the Tokyo 15th district and served as a deputy minister in the

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

and Fourth Abe Cabinet.

Bribery scandal

Late December 2019, Akimoto was arrested for allegedly receiving up to ¥7.6 million in bribes from 500.com, a Chinese gambling operator interested in setting up a

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

in the country. On September 7, 2021, the court sentenced him to four years in prison and fined the amount equal to the bribes he had received. He was also found guilty of offering to bribe witnesses to falsify their court testimony. In March of 2024, the sentence was upheld in the

Tokyo High Court is a high court in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The is a special branch of Tokyo High Court. Japan has eight high courts: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sendai, Sapporo, and Takamatsu. Each court has jurisdiction over one o ...

but the case is pending further appeal.

References

External links

Official website
in Japanese. Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Living people 1971 births People from Adachi, Tokyo Members of Nippon Kaigi Japanese politicians convicted of corruption Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Daito Bunka University alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2012–2014 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2014–2017 Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2017–2021 {{Japan-politician-1970s-stub

Career

Bribery scandal

See also

References

External links